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LITTLE BOOK OPEN: 



CONTAINING THE 



CRY OF A LOUD VOICE AS WHEN A LION ROARETH; 



LAYING OPEN 



THE REVELATIONS, 



AND ALSO THE FAITH ONCE DELIVRRED TO THE SAINTS. 



FROM THE HAND OF JOHN WHITEHEAD. 



,-,\.-- 



" Like as the lion, and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a MULTITUDE OF 
SHEPHERDS is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase 
himself for the noise of them, so shall the LORD OF HOSTS come down to fight for 
Mount Zion, and for the hill thereof." Is. xxxi. 4. 

" Take it, and eat it up ; and it shall make thy holly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth 
sweet as honey." Rev. x. 9. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PRINTED FOR JOHN WHITEHEAD, HAMPTON, Va. 

1836. 



PREFACE. 

The contents of this book are indeed extraordinary, and the 
doctrine it unfolds wonderful. " To the word and to the testi- 
mony^^ let every man go and search, and he will see that he who 
will believe the plain and simple word and testimony of God 
cannot be deceived, and cannot be mistaken. It was no doubt 
necessary that such a book as this should be confirmed in an 
extraordinary manner — that the evident and manifest authority 
of God should be given to his own truth and doctrine, at a time 
and in a day when that truth is lost and unknown in the con- 
fusion of religious sects, and in the unintelligible confusion of 
religious books and doctrines : and accordingly it is so. 

Many things will concur to deceive men, and lead them away 
from giving any heed to the contents of this book. If there 
were no deceivers, no deceptions, no deceitful lusts, enticing 
and blinding men, none would be deceived and none would 
perish — for all would believe ; but God hath in his wisdom 
suffered the devil to have great power, and suffered his delu- 
sions to be strong, that they whom it is not the good pleasure 
of his will to save, may not be saved against their will. There- 
fore the truth of God has always appeared an absurdity to the 
men of this world, and especially to the wise and prudent 
among them, but who are not wise enough to receive the truth. 

God will deliver those on whom he will have mercy, (to whom 
he will give repentance and make willing, and draw unto him- 
self,) from " all the power of the enemy. ''^ But Satan has got 
ready beforehand delusions expressly prepared by him against 
this Little Book, that the manifest truth of its contents may be 
suspected, and that it may be classed with, and, if possible, be 
buried in and swept away by the flood of falsehood which he 
has poured out against the truth — the covenant of God's ever- 
lasting love — which covenant is called a woman. Those, there- 
fore, who hate the truth in their hearts, (though ^^with their 
mouths they show much love^^^) will not be in want of abundant 



Vlll PREFACE. 



who " seek after wisdom as for hidden treasure,''^ to whom God 
hath given the mind and the wish to know the truth: they 
who would not dihgently seek and enquire, who would not go 
every length and make every sacrifice to obtain truth, will 
surely not find it, but will give heed to the first lie which turns 
away from it, (because, in truth, at the bottom of their hearts 
they do not care a straw about it,) whereas they, would go thou- 
sands of miles and not be turned away by any persuasion from 
the pursuit of a sum of money. 

It is against God's elect that Satan raises up all these delu- 
sions and false lights, that he may lead them astray, but he 
cannot succeed with them ; God will fight for his Church, for 
Mount Zion, and " no weapon that is formed against thee shall 
prosper^ 

" Behold^ I come quickly ; Messed is he that keepeth the sayings 
of the prophecy of this Book.^^ " He which testifeth these things 
saithj Surely I come quickly : Amen. Even so, come^ Lord Jesus.'^ 

Philadelphia, September 1, 1836. 



INTRODUCTION. 



CHAPTER I. 

The law of God must be fulfilled, it cannot be broken ; it is the 

very principle of right and wrong, and it is utterly impossible that it 

. can be broken in one jot or tittle. No wrong of any kind can be 

done and go unpunished, else it were no law at all, and evil were no 

evil at all. 

The law of God is written in the hearts of all men, by which they 
all know that evil is evil, and good is good. But as men pervert 
this law and put it from them, and persuade themselves that evil is 
not evil, God gave this law in writing to a chosen people, by Moses 
and by the prophets, that truth might be known on the earth for the 
sakes of all those whom he will teach knowledge. 

This law of God is the very substance of right and wrong ; but for 
it being written in their hearts, men would never have had any idea 
or any perception whatever of right or wrong. This law, that good 
must be done, and evil must not be done, God has established for 
ever, and it cannot be broken. Evil is therefore sure to follow evil, 
and the judgment of the world for wickedness is sure and inevitable. 

This law is perfect, and therefore admits of no evil or wrong what- 
ever, nothing short of perfect good is an obedience to this law ; if 
it admitted less than perfect good it would be both a vain and an 
unrighteous law, for the least evil being permitted, it would sanction 
all evil. An imperfect obedience is a violation of it ; herein is the 
condemnation of men, that they do not perfectly obey the law of 
God. 

All men will be judged according to this law, whether they have 
obeyed it, or whether they have not, whether they have done good 
or evil ; they all know and confess its truth and justice, for by it 
they accuse and condemn one another, and take vengeance one upon 
the other, for it is written in their hearts, they know it naturally. 
When they say " if a man is virtuous he will be happy, if he is honest 
he will prosper, vice will hiding misery ^^^ and the like, they utter their 
knowledge of the law of God, which they have by nature. When 
they say " if you do good, you will go to heaven; if not you will go 
to hell,^^ they express their knowledge of the law of God which they 
have naturally ; for this is the law, that good will be rewarded and 
evil also will be justly rewarded. Now if the good be amplified by 
being called piety, religion, faith, &c., and if the reward be amplified 
by being called heaven, yet it is still only the law of God ; and if the 
evil be expressed by the name of irreligion, impiety, unbelief, &;c., and 
the punishment more forcibly represented by the words hell and de- 
struction, &c., yet it is nothing but the law of God which men know 
naturally. And also if the good be inculcated and recommended by 
1 



^ INTRODUCTION. 

speaking of Christ and love and the goodness of God, and if the evil 
be exhibited as the suffering of everlasting punishment, yet none of 
these additions or appendages change the fact ; it is still the law of 
God which men know by nature, which law is true, and makes 
known the fact, that good is surely followed by good as its reward, 
and evil is inevitably allied with evil as its own punishment. All 
these truths, however variously expressed, and though mixed up with 
whatever other sentiments, or united with the most pathetic descrip- 
tions of the death of Christ, and eulogies of the goodness of God ; — 
though enforced by the most terrific descriptions of punishment to 
come, are nothing but the law of God which all men know by 
nature. 

Those who profess to serve God and obey the Gospel, call this 
natural knowledge of the law of God by the names of divinity, gospel, 
piety, or religion : they are spoken of by the Spirit of God as the 
Earth. Those who wickedly reject the authority of God, and revile 
his word, call their natural knowledge of the law of God by the 
names of virtue, morality, honour, &;c. ; these are described by the 
Spirit as the Sea, which signifies the world in general, as the Earth 
standing out of the waters signifies the body of religious professors. 
But at this time the Sea and the Earth are confounded together, 
there is no difierence in their doctrine, it is what they know natu- 
rally of the law of God. They both know the law and fulfil it not ; 
they both preach that they ought to do good and practise virtue, and 
they do evil. To testify against one is to testify against them both, 
and to declare God's truth is to set the feet upon (that is, to testify 
against) the sea and the earth, for they are now confounded together. 
Wherefore the Apostle speaking before of this day, has called the 
men of the Earth, not only wandering stars, having wandered far 
from the truth of the kingdom of heaven, but also " raging waves of 
the Sea,^^ for they are also men of the world, natural men, (calling 
their natural knowledge and fleshly wisdom the Gospel of God) 
^^ foaming out their own shame ;'''' this they do when they talk loudly 
of their convictions for sin and what hell-deserving sinners they are ; 
which, true as it is, is a shame and disgrace to every man. 

God has expressly declared in the psalms that " no man doeth 
good, no, not one^ All men know that they ought to do good, and 
not to do evil, this is the law of God written in their hearts ; but 
Righteousness, that is, doing good, does not come by knowing this ; 
Righteousness does not come by the law. So certain this is, that 
the Apostle declares that if having the law, knowing that we ought 
to do good and not to do evil, would lead men to do good, then the 
death of Christ would be unnecessary ; saying to the Galatians " if 
righteousness come by the laiv, then Christ is dead in vain.^^ Not- 
withstanding the express word of God to the contrary, the Earth, 
that is, the professors of religion, who profess to know and to be obe- 
dient to the word of God, imagine that they do good, and call upon 
men to do good, and highly esteem what they call piety, and pious 
actions and feelings which they imagine to be good. They think 
that they do good, that they obey God's law, (for there is no other 
good and no other Righteousness than a perfect and continual obe- 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

dience to the law of God :) thus making God a liar, for God declares 
that no man doeth good ! They cover this wickedness by deceit, 
pretending to ascribe the good which they believe they do, to God, 
saying they do good by the Grace of God assisting them ! God 
doth not assist evil man who doeth not good, to do good : the sons 
of Adam do no good, neither with nor without assistance, they do no 
good at all ! God hath said this ! Christ Jesus, a new man the Son 
of God, alone doeth good (therefore he is called the Holy One) : he 
doeth good, that is perfect Righteousness for them that receive him, 
and the evil man hath no share nor part in doing the good, the 
righteousness, which he alone doeth ; this his own doing, his own 
Righteousness, he gives to and puts upon them that believe, and by 
this only they are righteous, and perfect fulfillers of the law, even 
by his doing, and his only. Therefore, no Righteousness comes by 
the law, and all Righteousness comes by Christ, and by him only, 
who is the righteous One, who is the Righteousness of God. 

If God had never spoken and declared that no man doeth good, 
men bear witness of themselves and declare of themselves that they 
do not do good, that though they know the law, and talk of virtue 
and piety, yet they do not do good : their own records of themselves, 
their histories for nearly 6000 years are records of crimes, and tes- 
timonies of disorder, confusion and evil. Vain is all confidence in 
the flesh, vain is the expectation that evil man will be good ; vain is 
it to cry " do good''' " do good''"' to this sinful and malicious beast, 
who hath eyes but he seeth not, and ears but he heareth not. 

The law of God requires men to do good continually, and to do no 
evil or wrong whatever, and its curse is upon all those who do 
wrong, who do not continually do good. This curse of the law is 
certain and inevitable ; if it could be escaped, the law would be no 
law at all, it would be a lie, and there would be no such thing as 
right and wrong. Since no man doeth good, no man can be saved 
under this law, for it condemns all who are under it ; being under 
this law a man is a transgressor and wicked ; this it is which renders 
him wicked, viz. being a transgressor of this law, and not obeying it 
in all things and continually. Since therefore there is no Righte- 
ousness by the law, by knowing it and following it and by trying to 
obey it, for let him do what he will, no man doeth good, therefore 
there is no Salvation by the law, for there cannot be Salvation with- 
out Righteousness. 

If the Gospel of God was sent to command men to do good, there 
could be no Righteousness, and consequently no salvation by the 
Gospel any more than by the law ; for since God declares that no 
man doeth good, no man would obey the Gospel any more than the 
law, and no one could be saved by such a gospel. If the Gospel 
were a new means of doing good, with stronger inducements and 
better promises than the law, whereby to induce, and assist, and 
help men to do good by the grace of God, then the Gospel would be 
altogether vain and useless, for God expressly declares that no man 
doeth good at all, and therefore it is manifest that no man doeth 
good by any inducement or assistance, or grace, or help, or entice- 
ment ; and therefore if this w^ere the Gospel, no man would be saved 



4 INTEODUCTION, 

under it. Besides, if such were the case, if the Gospel were a pro- 
mulgation of good and excellent precepts to men, to guide and teach 
them to do good, if it were an inducement and persuasive to them to 
do good, such a Gospel would be most vain and unnecessary, for the 
Law of God is all this ! The law is a perfect and comprehensive 
code of all that is good and true ; it is perfect, and wants no addition 
or help ; it offers every possible inducement and promise and stimu- 
lus to men to do good, and not to do evil ; and if the Gospel was 
such as this, commanding or persuading men to do good, it would be 
nothing but the law itself; for the law of God commands and per- 
suades men to do good ; it is perfect, and omits nothing : there is no 
good that ought to be done, there is nothing wise and excellent that 
men ought to pursue, but the Law of God contains and commands it 
all. Whatever precepts or commands to do good can be given, they 
are already contained in the Law of God. All persuasions to do good, 
by whatever name they may be called, whether called virtue, or 
morality, or religion, or gospel, or philosophy, or piety, are the law 
of God ; whatsoever says to men " do good''' is the law and truth of 
God, though it may be covered and disguised with many mixtures 
and vain additions. 

Therefore the Gospel of God is not the law of God ; the law of 
God commands to do good, the Gospel brings no such command, it 
is not wanted, for the law commands all good perfectly and abun- 
dantly, and requires no assistance or addition, for it is perfection 
itself; if the Gospel were a law commanding to do good, it would be 
vain and unnecessary, since there is a law doing all this, and doing it 
perfectly. 

Neither does the Gospel, or the Grace of God, give any help or 
assistance to men to obey the law, that is, to do good. All who are 
under the law, are transgressors and wicked ; they have got to do 
good, and they do not do it, and therefore they are under condemna- 
tion, and are wicked. And God gives no grace to the wicked, he is 
angry with them every day, as the prophet David declares. Also 
Isaiah says, speaking the words of God, that it would be of no use 
whatever to show them grace, that is favour ; saying, " let favour he 
showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness, in the land 
of uprightness will he deal unjustly^ and will not behold the Majesty 
of the Lord.^^ God cannot show favour to those who do not per- 
fectly obey the holy law, it would be to violate his own law, which 
cannot be violated ; they are under a curse, and cannot also at the 
same time be under a blessing. Christ is of no effect to them who 
are under the law, says the Apostle. 

Besides, if Christ assisted men by his Grace to do good, then they 
would do good, and God would be made a liar, for God declares they 
do not do good. 

If God assisted men by his Grace through Jesus Christ to do 
good, they would be perfect, and never do evil, for to do good is per- 
fectly to obey the law, else a man is a transgressor whatever he may 
seem to do. 

If men did good, being assisted or induced by the Grace and 
mediation of Christ, they might boast before God : the glory would 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

be due to them, (for they would fulfil the law, else it is no good at 
all,) and some thanks only would be due to God for helping them. 
Man would be above God ; man would be the doer, and God a help ; 
man would be the principal, and God an instrument and servant to 
him. The wicked teachers of this abomination profess that it is so, 
when they allege, with feigned condescension and humility, that all 
the good they do is only by the instrumentality of God, making Him 
an instrument to them ! This method of salvation, which proceeds 
from the father of lies and is a lie, which is the false and lying Gos- 
pel of this evil time, by which man is exalted above God, he, that 
wicked one, doing all, by the Grace of God, is most highly pleasing 
to man, but is an abomination before God. 

To preach to man, the sinful man, (that is, the man of sin,) saying 
to him " do good,'' is to set at nought the Lord Christ, and to make 
his death a vanity; it is to put him out of the way, which is to cru- 
cify him afresh ; for the Holy Ghost has expressly declared that if 
good, that is Righteousness, come by the law of doing good, by our 
following it, or our exertions to obey it, then Christ is dead in vain. 
To preach to man to do good, all good, the good which God's 
righteous law requires, and nothing more nor less than it, real good- 
doing to one another, and to all men in all things and continually, 
and no wrong, no evil whatever, — to do this in deed and in truth, is 
to preach God's holy, moral, just, and perfect law. But even this is 
not to preach Christ or his gospel, there is no good news in this, 
here are no glad tidings, for inasmuch as men do not obey this holy 
law, they are condemned by it, and cannot hope for salvation under 
it. But to preach to men a partial and not a perfect fulfilling of 
God's law, to preach substitutes of religious invention (ideas, doc- 
trines, feelings, convictions, joining societies, and churches, &c. &;c.,) 
instead of the real and perfect good-doing, the righteousness of God's 
eternal law of right and wrong, — to call these things good, to dare 
to say that the Grace of God helps men in this wickedness, to dare 
to say that having good to do, a man can be saved if he does short 
of real good, and complete and continual obedience, — this is not only 
not to preach Christ or his Gospel, but it is not even to preach the 
law ! If even in preaching God's true and perfect law, there is no 
gospel and no salvation, what salvation is there in the preaching of 
the law mutilated, set aside, and overthrown ; in preaching vain 
things which are not the perfect law of God 1 By the law of God, 
the inviolable and perfect law of right and good, real good, that is. 
Righteousness, must be done, and no wrong no evil whatever must 
be done ; but to preach to men that, if they do something or any 
thing whatever less than perfect obedience in all things and con- 
tinually, that then they will be saved by the Grace of God, through 
the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, — this is turning the Grace 
of God into lasciviousness ; it is making the law a lie, since it need 
not be perfectly and wholly obeyed ; it is permitting imperfect obe- 
dience, which is transgression; and it is making Christ and his 
grace the minister of this sin, the means and plea for admitting evil 
and overthrowing the law ! 

This is overthrowing, destroying, or killing God's law, taking 



O INTRODUCTION. 

away all its force, and life, and power, saying it does not require 
complete obedience ; and also it is destroying and killing the Gospel, 
for there can be no salvation ; it cannot save, if it leaves man under 
the law, bound to fulfil it, and cursed and condemned as transgressors 
of it. This is now done in this day, by the Earth, those who profess 
to have the knowledge of God, and to be servants and children of the 
most high God, the professors of religion, who trample under foot 
the Son of God, and set him at nought, looking to do good, that is 
looking for Righteousness, to their own efforts and obedience of the 
law, thus crucifying and despising the Son of God, the only Righteous 
One ; and also while they look for life from the law of doing good, 
yet at the same time trampling under foot that very law, and setting 
up imaginary good of their own invention instead of it ! Thus the 
two witnesses of God, the law by which God testifies to man of 
righteousness and judgment to come, and the Gospel by which God 
witnesses to men of Grace and of the Righteousness of God, both 
these two witnesses which have long prophesied in sackcloth, in 
weakness and obscurity (viz. for 42 months, i. e. 1260 years) are 
now at length killed : the bodies of these witnesses are the books 
which contain the testimony of the law and of the Gospel, called the 
Bible; these are now dead, a dead letter, but (which would be far 
better) they are not buried, the law and the Gospel are slain, but 
their bodies, their mere carcasses, the bible, is set up almost as a 
god, and is sent about and seen of all the sects, and names, and par- 
ties (kindreds and tongues and nations) of the earth (apostate cor- 
rupt Christendom). 

The earthly men, professors of human piety and human Righteous- 
ness, were always tormented when the truth of the law and of the 
Gospel was preached, even though in sackcloth ; but now they are 
merry and triumphant, and send about the presents of their tracts and 
" good hooks /" now they are no longer tormented with hearing the 
voice of truth, and in their triumph they proudly talk of bringing 
about the Millennium with a little more exertion of human power and 
righteousness! But their time is at hand, and they dream not of it. 
They are a city, spoken of by the Spirit of God, by the name of 
Sodom and Egypt and Babylon, and this city and its proud battle- 
ments must be destroyed, for it is a city of falsehood and violence, 
and hatred and strife, and confusion and hypocrisy. 

Wickedness to such an extent, and triumphing with so much con- 
fidence under the deceitful appearance of wonderful holiness and 
piety and humility, has never before been witnessed in the w^orld 
since its foundation ; in no other time the law of God, that just and 
true and holy law of doing right and not doing wrong, has been so 
completely slain and thrust aside, and such vain and idle substitutes 
set up in the place of it : and in no other time since Christ appeared, 
has his holy name and doctrine been so despised and trampled under 
foot. And this is now done, not by enemies, with shame and fear ; 
not by the declared ungodly, but the law is thrown down and Christ 
is crucified afresh and put to shame, triumphantly, boastingly, and 
confidently, by those who call themselves servants and children of 
God ! and they commit this wickedness under the very name and 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

pretence and with the profession of serving God faithfully and zeal- 
ously, and doing wonderful things for him ! Accordingly even 
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of this religious genera- 
tion. This generation which crucifies afresh the Lord of Glory, 
setting him at nought, holding him up to scorn and derision, as per- 
forming a useless work and dying in vain, setting up above him the 
righteousness and piety of filthy and wicked man, this is the same 
with that generation which also crucified him before, preferring their 
own Righteousness before the Righteousness of God. But when 
they crucified him they did not practise deceit, they did not kiss him 
and pretend to obey him, nor call him " the dear Redeemer," while 
they set him at nought ; they did not talk in feigned raptures of his 
grace and power when they, as these do, openly exhibited him slain 
by them. They also set aside the law of God by their traditions, 
but they did not altogether kill it by nothing but vain substitutions 
of their own piety in its place ; for they were strict and devout 
according to the law, and some of them as to the righteousness of 
the law were blameless. 



CHAPTER II. 

The doctrine is most true, that all who do good shall be saved ; all 
without exception, without any favour, or election : this is true, for 
it is the law of God ; whosoever he be who doeth good and who 
doeth no evil, he shall save his soul alive ; this is the law of God, 
and it is true ; here is no favour, here is no election ; such a person 
must be saved, it is due to him, it is a debt. If God left all men 
under this law, viz. that if they did good they should live, it would 
be right and good ; and no man then would be saved (for no man 
doeth good) and this also would be right and good. 

Since this law cannot be broken, no man who is under it can be 
saved unless he perfectly fulfils it in all things and at all times : and 
since no man does this, no man can be saved who is under this law. 
If a man is under this law, it requires of him all good and no evil ; 
nothing short of perfect obedience will be admitted by it, for it is 
against all evil ; and also it is inexorable, it cannot forego its de- 
mands or admit of the least violation of its commands, else it were 
no law at all ; and therefore no man can be saved who is under it, 
for no man obeys it. 

It is a monstrous deception of Satan, by which a man imagines 
that God will suffer the law to be violated by taking a part obe- 
dience instead of a perfect obedience, or by relaxing in its demands : 
this is impossible ; God does not set up a law and then cast it down ; 
all who are under this law must perfectly obey it, or they are lost. 
All men are born under this law, and under it they must remain 
unless God removes them from under it, for they cannot set it aside 
nor escape from it. All men cannot be taken from under it, all can- 
not be saved, for if so, there would be no law, that is, no right and 
wrong, and the Law having been given declaring the wrath of God 
against all wrong-doing, would be a lie, and there would be no wrath 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

against unrighteousness and ungodliness, if all who have done un- 
righteousness escaped from the penalty of the law. God will save 
some, because he will have mercy, he will save them only and en- 
tirely for his own name's sake ; therefore before the world began, 
long before man was made. He, seeing and knowing every one of the 
human race, chose a portion out of the whole lump, each one of 
whom he knew and saw, whom for his own name's sake he appointed 
unto everlasting life ; whom he gave to Christ ; whom he loved in 
Christ ; giving favour and grace to them in him, as members of 
Christ, not as children of Adam, not as members of that corrupt 
tree. In the fullness of time Christ came to redeem these from 
under the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons, and 
become sons of God through faith in his name, and be no longer 
children of bondage. It is the will of God to punish the ungodly, 
for their ungodliness and for their wicked works, and only for them 
and in proportion to them, this is the law of God : and also it is the 
will of God to save the ungodly for his own glory, for his own holy 
name's sake, and only because he will have mercy. This is the 
Grace of God. This which is his will now, was his will ever- 
lastingly. 

All the sins of men are done voluntarily, wilfully, maliciously, and 
spontaneously ; God has not appointed them to sin, nor predestinated 
them to sin, God forbid : there is no necessity over them obliging 
them to sin, they sin premeditatedly, deliberately and voluntarily, 
God has let them alone to do as they will for a season, but he knows 
their thoughts afar off, and all that they will do in the time in which 
he has given power to wickedness to do its will. He has foretold 
and vv^ritten down ages before they are done the very deeds that they 
will wickedly do. But notwithstanding, they cannot do all they 
would ; far from it ! they cannot move the little finger till God lets 
them loose ; they cannot bring all their wicked devices to pass ; God 
has appointed and determined before, and knows well what he will 
let them do, and what they will do ; and what he will prevent them 
from doing ; and also he has appointed, that, whatever their malice 
and wickedness shall do, shall tend to accomplish his will and plea- 
sure : and thus, as the Psalmist says, the wicked are the hand of 
God. God might have prevented all this wickedness from existing, 
by not suffering the wicked to exist ; but it has been his v/ill to per- 
mit for a short time the exhibition on this earth of what a frightful 
thing power is apart from God, and what a wretched and wicked 
creature a creature is out of God. And yet all the events of this 
wicked world will work in the end a glorious purpose, and God will 
be justly glorified in all things. 

The law of God makes known that evil is exceedingly evil, and 
that only what is good must be done ; if a man does any evil what- 
ever he is a transgressor of the law, and is condemned ; as long as 
he is alive under this law which commands to do good and no evil, 
he is in condemnation if he ever does any evil whatever. Therefore 
there cannot be any salvation to them who are under the law, for it 
says " do good;'''' they do not do good, (no man doeth good, no not one) 
and therefore this law condemns them. This is all the damnation that 



INTRODUCTION. 



9 



there is or will be, viz. the condemnation of the law ; and it is most 
awful condemnation, because to do evil is most awful. A person who 
is under the law which infallibly condemns all who are under it, if he 
talks of Grace, and redemption, and Christ, talks in vain, for the 
law cannot be broken, Christ will not take away one jot or tittle of it. 
He establishes it, he does not destroy it ; wherever it is, it is impos- 
sible it can fail ; whoever is under it, is under a curse ; it is invio- 
lable, it cannot be set aside. Christ saves his people, not by saving 
them while they remain under this law, for while a man is under it 
he cannot be free from condemnation ; but by redeeming them from 
under it, taking it away from over them, he delivers them from con- 
demnation : and this he does, not by violating the law, for that can 
never be, but by putting himself under it instead of them, taking it 
off them upon himself, and perfectly fulfilling it for them and in their 
places. He fulfilling it all for them, they have not got it to fulfil ; 
thus they are not under it, it is fulfilled ; it has no demand upon 
them, for whatever demand it has (and that demand is perfect 
Righteousness) he satisfies it for them, and they are not under the 
law, they do not live under it, they " are dead to the law by the body 
of Christ,^' If he left them under the law, and having to do good, 
he would not then save them, for they would not do good, and they 
must be cursed for not doing it ; they must, for the law cannot be 
broken ; it is impossible for a man to be saved who is under the law, 
for he has got to do good, and he does not do it. Therefore Christ 
came to redeem his people from under the law, to do all it requires 
in their stead, even all good, that is perfect Righteousness, for this is 
all that the law requires, and he has done all this for them, and thus 
they have not got it to do, they have not got Righteousness to do, 
they are not under the law, he does it all for us, because we cannot 
do any thing of it at all ; he takes it all upon himself, and thus he is 
as the Prophet Jeremiah spoke, " The Lord our Righteousness." 
Blessed are they who receive him, who thirst after this Righteous- 
ness which is God's Righteousness, and not man's, for man has none ; 
this is to believe in his name, to receive Him for Righteousness, and 
to have no hope in any other works or righteousness except his only. 
Herein is his Salvation, viz. a perfect fulfilling of the law, for there 
can be no Salvation without perfectly fulfilling it : He does this, and 
the law, which cannot be broken, is not broken. 

God has chosen his people, to redeem them from under the law, 
that they might be saved in Christ, and be in him, and become dead 
to the law by him, and alive to God in him; having on his Righteous- 
ness, and fulfilling the law in him, that is, being perfectly righteous 
in him. All are by nature under the law, children of wrath, and 
none can remove themselves from under this righteous obligation to 
do good and to do no evil. But God removes whom he will from 
under this obligation or law, by giving them to Christ who takes it 
from off them by completely fulfilling it for them, undertaking the 
whole for them, and for ever doing all it requires for them, so that 
they are no longer under it. God takes whom he will from under 
this law, and giving them to Christ, saves them, and he foreknew 
2 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

them all, and foreknowing them, he predestinated them to be con- 
formed to the image of his Son. This is God's election of Grace, 
having mercy on whom he will, and choosing them before, from 
everlasting. 

That God is righteous in leaving some under the law, to be saved 
if they will do good, they themselves bear witness who wickedly 
revile the Ever-living God because of this truth of his mercy and 
grace. They do not wish to be redeemed from under the law, for 
they wish only to be saved under the condition of the law, viz. if they 
do good ; how then will they presume to revile the Majesty of God 
because he leaves them under the condition which they love, viz. 
that, if tkey do good, that is fulfil the law, they shall save their 
souls alive ? God is pleased to leave them under this righteous law 
and just condition, and they will be judged by it, and if they have 
done good, they cannot lose the reward, and if they have done evil 
they cannot escape the condemnation for the evil they have done. 
They love death, even the condemnation of the law, and are deter- 
mined not to be saved except by doing some good ; they vainly 
imagine that some good will do, instead of perfectly fulfilling the 
whole law. They vainly imagine the Grace of God will help them 
to do some good, and that thus they will be saved. The rejection of 
Christ and the enmity against God and his Righteousness, consists in 
not being willing nor desirous to be taken from under this law, and 
to have perfect Righteousness by Jesus Christ without it ; and how 
then can such persons find fault with God for his election of Grace, 
which is the taking some, yea many, more in number than the stars 
of heaven, from under this law ? None are left under this condemn- 
ing law, except those who do not wish or who would not wish to be 
redeemed from under it, they are left under the law, under the con- 
dition which they love, viz. that if they do good they shall live ; this 
is certain condemnation, and the condemnation of the law has been 
ordained from everlasting for all who do evil, and all evil doers are 
appointed from everlasting to this condemnation, which is for what 
they have done or shall do, and only according to what they do. To 
be made willing to be redeemed from under this law, and to put on 
the righteousness of God, even perfect Righteousness (which is what 
the law requires) is to believe in Christ who is the Righteousness of 
God, it is to be elect of God and redeemed from under the law. 
When any one believes in the name of the Son of God, then he has 
the Righteousness of God, Jesus Christ is in him, and all the power 
and beauty and glory and righteousness of God is upon him, and if it 
be not so, he is a reprobate (2 Corinths. Ch. xiii. v. 5,) that is, he 
does not please God, he is not approved of God. This is Reproba- 
tion and there is no other kind of reprobation, and consequently many 
of God's elect, on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will 
make willing and obedient, are reprobates, and will be reprobates 
and enemies to God till it shall please him to call them by his Grace 
and give them repentance unto life. 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 



CHAPTER I. 

The Faith once delivered to the Saints. 

The Law says " Do, and thou, (thou thyself) shalt save thy soul 
alive." God, in the glad tidings of the Gospel, says, " Believe and 
thou shalt be saved." These words contain in sum and substance all 
the Gospel of God. Believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt not save thyself, but thou shalt be saved. Now his 
name is " The Lord our Righteousness," and to believe in his Name, 
is to look to him for Righteousness, and only to him ; it is to receive 
him as our Righteousness, to do nothing, but only believe in him. 
Therefore, for a sinner to be saved, to live and to have Righteous- 
ness, he has nothing whatever to do, but only to believe, and God 
will do all for him, God will be his Righteousness, God will save 
him ! 

Righteousness is doing good ; there is no other Righteousness : 
he who tries to do good tries to obtain Righteousness by the works 
of the Law ; but he who does nothing, but believes in Jesus Christ, 
he receives in Him the gift of Righteousness without his doing any 
thing at all ; he is made perfectly righteous, for the Righteousness 
of God in Jesus Christ is unto him and upon him, and he is made 
perfectly righteous without doing any thing. He who tries to do 
good, that is to obey the law, he does not do good nor obey the law; 
he a sinner cannot, it is impossible to a sinner : if he could do good 
he is no sinner, and if he could get Righteousness by trying to do 
good Christ is dead in vain. (Gal. ii. v. 21). Therefore he who tries 
and works hard to get Righteousness cannot get it, but he who does 
not try nor work at all, but only believes in the name of the Son of 
God, he obtains the perfect Righteousness of God, which is (in favour 
and mercy alone) given and imputed unto him. Therefore he who 
believeth in Christ, who receives him for his Righteousness, has 
nothing whatever to do, all is done for him, and all Righteousness is 
given to him in Christ. 

Jesus Christ is the only man who doeth good, and he is not a man 
after the flesh, he is not a son of Adam, he is the Son of God ; he is 
the only individual who doeth good, and therefore he is called the 
Holy One, the Just One, the Righteous Man, or the Man of Righte- 
ousness. And man who only doeth evil, is called the wicked one, 
the man of sin, or sinful man, the beast, the flesh. 



12 THE GOSPEL OP GOD. 

There is and can be no Righteousness but in Christ, and they who 
gladly receive him, who look to him and trust to his Righteousness, 
(that is, who believe in his name) they receive his Righteousness and 
want none other at all, they are perfect in him, and abiding in him, 
(that is, continuing to believe and only to look to him) they have no 
good to do, no Righteousness to do, they have nothing whatever to 
do, they are saved everlastingly and for ever without doing any thing. 
They are saved ; it is the work of God ; they do not save them- 
selves ; they have nothing to do. 

There is no blessing and no peace but in Righteousness, in doing 
good, and only doing good ; and all Righteousness is comprehended 
in fulfilling perfectly all the law of God ; so that unless a man does 
really fulfil this righteous law, he is inevitably cursed and wretched. 
Now herein is the Grace and Salvation of God, here are glad tidings, 
viz. that Jesus Christ has entirely taken away from them that be- 
lieve, or look to him, and throw themselves upon him for Righteous- 
ness, all the obligation and necessity of obtaining blessing and hap- 
piness and peace by doing good (a thing they will not and cannot do) 
and he gives them all Righteousness and fulfils all the Righteous- 
ness of the law instead of thsm, so that they have nothing to do, no, 
nothing whatever : he requires nothing of them, he is their perfect 
Saviour, and leaves nothing of this salvation in their hands, that is to 
say. He is the Christ in very deed and truth ; for this is what the 
Christ means, viz. the King, the Deliverer, the Saviour, the Strength, 
the Righteousness of his people ! All their part in this Salvation is, 
not to do any thing but to believe ; simply to take it ! (Rev. xxii. 17) 
only to receive it ! and have it ! to stand still, to do nothing, to be- 
hold the Salvation of God, how he. He himself will save them ; and 
this is believing. All good (that is Righteousness) that was to be 
done, that is to be done, and that ought for the future to be done, 
they have not got to do it who only believe ; Christ Jesus hath done 
it, and does it, and will do it, for them who receive him to do it, that 
is to be their Righteousness ! who only believe, and cease from all 
their own works, doing nothing : for he does all for them, he works 
all good and Righteousness for them, they have nothing whatever to 
do ! This is good news for the poor and needy, who are heavy 
laden with their own iniquities, and thirst after the true Righteous- 
ness ; these are glad tidings indeed for the poor and for the ungodly, 
and thus the Gospel truly deserves its name '-^ good news ;^^ and so 
most certainly and assuredly every word of God shall be found to be 
not in vain, but to mean really what it says, and even to surpass and 
be over and above the good which it says. 

This is the faith once delivered to the saints, viz. " Believe," not 
" do," leave that to Christ, he came on purpose to " <Zo." " Lo ! I 
come, to do thy will, O God /" and to do all for them that trust to 
him. Yea verily this is the truth of the living God. And surely as 
the Lord God liveth who made heaven and all that therein is, and 
the Earth and all that is therein, and the Sea and all that is therein, 
so surely will God speedily put an end to the wicked religion of this 
wicked generation, to the abomination of lies and human works 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 13 

which ungodly men preach and dare to affirm that such lies are the 
Gospel of God. This Time of falsehood and abomination which has 
its fixed and limited period shall very soon be no longer, but (and it 
is now close at hand) when the voice of the seventh angel shall 
begin to sound, the mystery of God will be finished, as God hath 
plainly revealed and declared to his servants the prophets. 



CHAPTER II. 

There never has been any other Faith, than this Faith once delivered 
to the Saints, and it has been the same in all ages. 

He who desires to be saved from unrighteousness cind death, has 
not to do, but only to believe ; he himself has nothing to do, he must 
do nothing ; his strength is to sit still (Is. ch. xxx. v. 7) ; he must 
believe only ; he must stand still and wait upon God, and look not to 
himself or his own exertions to do good, but to Christ only for his , 
Righteousness only, and to him only as the only doer of Good : for if 
he himself could do good, Christ is dead in vain. This is the faith 
once delivered to the saints, and there never has been any other kind 
of faith, and never will be ; this was the faith of the saints of old. 

When Pharaoh and his host pursued Israel to the Red Sea, how 
did the people escape from and vanquish this powerful and formidable 
host 1 Not by doing something, but by doing nothing, and trusting 
in God to deliver, and leaving it to God to do all this work and sal- 
vation for them. Therefore Moses preached unto them to believe, 
only to believe, and not to work, but to trust to God for that ; saying 
unto them " sta7id still, and behold the salvation of Gody 

The faith of God's elect is also shown for our instruction in the 
example of Daniel, when he was cast in the den of lions ; he did 
nothing ; he sat still and trusted in God, and God himself shut the 
mouths of the lions ; but if he had begun to do, if he had tried to 
hold their mouths and stop them, it would have been evident that he 
did not entirely trust in God, (that is, believe,) and then certainly he 
would have experienced no salvation, God would have left him to his 
own power, and left them to devour him. So he who belie veth in 
God must sit still and do nothing, but let God be his Saviour, and 
trust to him to deliver, and then verily he will deliver ! But if he 
himself works and thinks that he can do good, and conquer Satan and 
his lusts, and tries to do so, he does not believe in God, he trusts to 
an arm of flesh ; he takes upon himself the very work of Christ for 
which he was expressly manifested (1 John, ch. iii. v. 8) and in 
so doing he does not believe in Christ, nor look to him alone for 
Righteousness and good-doing ; he does not put confidence in God, 
but likens himself to God and trusts in himself, and God will leave 
him to himself to save himself and to perish in his own destruc- 
tions. 

To do nothing, but to believe in the Name of the Son of God, to 
trust solely to him to do all good and all Righteousness for us, this 
only is honouring God, this only is worshipping God ! looking and 



14 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

trusting to him only as our Righteousness, is an acknowledgment 
that God he is God, and a confession in very deed that we are 
nothing: it is believing that he is indeed the Christ, the Saviour, 
that he can do all, having all power, and that he will do ail for us, 
being good and gracious ; otherwise we neither believe that he has 
Power, nor that he is good. The sacrifice of the wicked, says Solo- 
mon, is an abomination to God, and they are wicked who look to 
themselves to do good. Our working, our doing, our piety (what- 
ever we may think of it) is a great abomination to God, for we are 
very evil. To offer up to God the sacrifice, that is the doing and 
performances of sinful man who is wicked flesh, an evil body, is an 
abomination; it is THE ABOMINATION. This abomination of 
human righteousness and the deeds of the human beast, whose sins are 
as scarlet, has been oflTered up during 1260 years of the Abomination 
which has made desolate ; during all which Time the daily Sacrifice 
has been taken away. The sacrifice of Christ (this is the daily 
sacrifice by faith) is that of a lamb without spot or blemish ; in him 
and only in him God is well pleased : to believe in him is to offer up 
spiritual sacrifices holy and acceptable to God ; but, to look to man 
for any good, to think to please God by our deeds and piety and 
obedience, is to offer up the abomination ; it is the sacrifice of swine's 
flesh as the prophet Isaiah shows, and not of the Lamb. And such is 
all the religion and piety, such is all the Christianity of this day ; it 
is all a wicked a beastly abomination which God abhors ; a sacrifice 
of swine's flesh, the worship of a beast, and not of God ; it is faith 
and confidence and trust in the power and virtue of a beast, not faith 
in God! 

This faith in man, this looking to man to do good, never was and 
never will be the faith of God's people : they did nothing, they stood 
still and trusted to God. This was the faith of our fathers, even of 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob : so David testifies, " Our Fathers trusted 
in Thee P'' What did they do? They trusted, only trusted, they 
stood still and believed ; " and Thou didst deliver them,'''' that is what 
God did, that was his work. They did nothing, but they looked to 
God, and God did every thing for them, he it was who delivered 
them ! 

Let no one dare to pervert God's word : they did not partly trust 
and partly work, and God do the remaining part of the work : they 
trusted, they only trusted, they altogether trusted to God (this is 
faith) and God did deliver, wholly and altogether, by himself and 
unassisted (and this is salvation !) Thus only God is believed and 
honoured : when we believe that he indeed is quite able, and wants 
no help from man, then only we believe he is the Mighty God and 
has all power ; and when we believe that he is really and of a truth 
willing to undertake so much (great and M^onderful as it is, but not 
too wonderful for him) then and then only we believe that what he 
says is true, that he is good indeed ! that he loves us ! and that it is 
indeed a reality, that he is not only God, and almighty, but our God, 
and merciful, and gracious. 

This was the faith of King Jehoshaphat, and the prophets of God 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 15 

who thus declared it : " Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid 
nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude ; for the battle is not 
yours, but God's /" " Ye shall not need to fight in this battle : set 
yourselves ; stand ye still ; and see the Salvation of the Lord with 
you, O Judah and Jerusalem.''^ (2 Chr. xx. v. 15, 17). 

This was the faith of Joshua and the people with him : they did 
not batter against the walls of Jericho ; they did not touch them ; 
they left the work to God, and God made them to fall down when 
nobody touched them ; God did the work for them, they did nothing 
of it, they only trusted to God. 

God shows unto us by these things, that when his people believe 
in him, he worketh all for them, even in small things, such as bat- 
tles ; much more in greater and more difficult things, such as the 
salvation of the soul ; they have nothing to do, the battle is not 
theirs but God's. 

The Jews of old (that is the real Jews, for they were not all Jews 
who were so outwardly) were not guilty of the great abomination of 
drawing nigh to God in Righteousness of their own doing, until that 
wicked and self-righteous generation arose, which now is, and is not 
yet passed away. (Matt. 24, ult.) The Jews looked to the blood of 
the sin ofFerinff for sanctification, and not to their own righteous or 
good doings. They entered into the sanctuary with sacrifice, and 
received the blessing from the High Priest (the Anointed One) after 
the sacrifice ; they were sanctified by the sprinkling of the blood, 
and by laying their hands upon, that is by laying hold of the sacri- 
fice, thus receiving Christ ; and so they were sanctified by doing 
nothing but receiving the sprinkling of the blood. They never drew 
nigh unto God or entered his temple but with sin offerings ; they 
had not an idea of acceptance with him but by blood ; until that evil 
generation arose which taught that God could be approached with 
the works of man ; that if a mnn did good, that is, in reality, if he 
made himself righteous, by deeds and observances of the law, then 
he was accepted of God, then they pleased God ! This they thought 
to be a great and commendable zeal for the law of God and highly 
pleasing to him ; they knew not that it was abomination to God. 
(Luke xvi. v. 15). Thus they set aside the work and offering and 
bloodshedding of the High Priest, (that is the Christ,) and exalted and 
set up the righteousness, the duties, the observances, the services, 
the prayers of evil and wicked man, as an offering to God, in place 
of the Righteousness and offering of the lamb, the Christ : they 
offered their own fleshly works, that is swine's flesh, instead of the 
work of Christ, that is the Lamb ; they would do something, and 
would not be righteous only and completely in the blood and 
Righteousness of the Lamb of God. Before this generation arose, 
the hope of Israel was in the Messiah, the Strength and Rock of 
Israel, the Righteousness of God, who was to come ; who did come ; 
and who will shortly again come in power and great glory ! 

Thus in former days, the saints of God did not obtain Righteous- 
ness, that is did not do good by doing, but by believing, and that is 
doing nothing : there was no Righteousness to man, and no accept- 



16 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

ance with God, and no sanctification by doing any thing, but by be- 
lieving only, by only receiving Christ the Righteousness of God, 
who was hoped in ; who was waited for ; who was longed for ; who 
was seen afar off; and who was set before them by the continual 
and daily sacrifice and shedding of blood. They all of them had not 
one jot or tittle of Righteousness before God, except the Righteous- 
ness of God, which is Christ, the Just One, who alone doeth the will 
of God. David says " I will make mention of thy Righteousness, 
even of thine only!'''' and he says that he would go in no strength but 
in that of the Lord God. 

And all the good which the saints of old ever did, it was not they 
who did it ; they did nothing but only believed in God, and then 
(they only believing) it was the Spirit of Christ which was in them, 
which did the works ; they believed, and God himself " did all 
things for them,'''' (Psalms ;) they had nothing to do. This is the faith 
of God's elect, the faith once delivered to the Saints. For 42 months, 
that is 1260 years, false and harlot churches have prevailed, and this 
faith has not been known among them, they have sacrificed the abo- 
mination, the oflfering of the works and piety of the flesh ; but in all 
this period, God's people though they have all been overcome by 
the beast and joined with these false churches, have only been saved 
by this faith, only by Christ and his works and his deeds, for all 
other deeds but his, be they ever so highly esteemed among men, 
are ABOMINATION before God. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Christianity of this day is no more Christianity than the worship 

of Juggernaut. 

It appears shocking to wicked flesh, to earthy men, the men of 
the Earth, to preach Christ, that is, to preach the power of God 
only, and not of evil man ; to preach " believe,^'' that is, do nothing. 
It is an offence and' a stumbling block. For fleshly man vainly and 
wickedly imagines that if God is to do all, and man nothing, then 
assuredly nothing will be done ! and they preach so, and think it 
great piety ! Such a good opinion evil men have of themselves, and 
such a bad opinion of God ! They think it strange that it should be 
absolutely necessary for sinful man to cease from all his doings, 
and they dream that man will really do some good himself, and 
that God will not do any without him ! nay that it cannot be done 
without him ! thus they believe that God is not God unless man 
exerts himself a little ! that God has neither goodness nor Grace 
nor Power unless man first exerts himself a little ! Yea ! only a 
little ! grant but a little ! let him have only a little to do, that God 
may not be God ! This is precisely what Satan wishes, that he 
may drag men in to partake of his own condemnation ; and to this 
point he has now at last brought the " Earth'''' and taught them to 
call it " Piety /" Thus they believe that no good can be done with- 
out the power of man ; they will not believe in God, they will not 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 17 

believe in the Power of God, that is in Christ. They believe in the 
power of man ; this is their God, this wicked one, man of sin. Ini- 
quity, a beast, whose sins are as scarlet, twice dyed. They do not 
believe in Christ, that all power in heaven and in earth is given to 
him ; that he has only to speak the word, and Satan sin and death 
and every enemy vanish ! that he, as man, hath gotten the victory 
by himself alone and no one with him, for us men, even all of us who 
rejoice to receive his work, and has already overcome all, and gives 
his victory to his people who believe in his name : they will not 
believe in him, but they believe that the filthy sinner himself can 
conquer ; they urge him to try, to labour, to exert himself, to con- 
quer, to subdue, to be Christ and God ! They will not believe that 
the Son of God, with his own right hand and his holy arm hath got- 
ten himself (yea, he himself and he alone) the victory ! In a word, 
they do not believe in God ; to them, God is not God ! 

They preach that man even sinful man is enabled to do good " hy 
the Grace of God through Jesus Christ.'''' This their doctrine is a 
lie, and cometh from the father of lies ; it is one of the strong delu- 
sions (2 Thess. chap. ii. v. 11). Man will not do good with any 
help or grace whatever ; even the grace of God that is, his favour 
will never lead him to do good. " Let favour (that is Grace) be 
showed to the wicked yet will he not learn righteousness ; in the land 
of uprightness will he deal unjustly^ and will not behold the majesty 
of the Lord'''' (Is. xxvi. v. 10). To say that evil man does good with 
help or grace is to make God a liar ; for if it be so, the Scripture is 
not true, which positively says a corrupt tree cannot bring forth any 
good fruit at all, and which also declares that man does not do any 
good at all (Psalms). God does not help Wickedness to do good: 
man that is born of Adam who is also called the flesh, is Iniquity, 
and Christ hath no part or lot with this old man, he hath put this 
beast to death in his own body on the tree, and they who believe are 
put to death with him. 

They who teach this doctrine of the devil, make Christ the minis- 
ter, that is the servant of sin, even of sinful man. They make him 
a servant and satellite to move and drag- alono^ this man of sin, to 
help him to stir himself and do good, and when they imagine they 
succeed in making the beast move, then the servant, the minister, 
the cord of vanity, is forgotten in the shouts of triumph they raise 
when they see their God move ! If Righteousness come by the 
law, Christ is dead in vain (Galatians) ; his death, his work is a 
vanity ; and they make Christ a vanity, a helping instrument or 
cord, a mere cart rope, to drag along the cart of Iniquity, to make 
this filthy and obscene beast to move or " do good !" When they 
make him move and publish triumphantly in their records of piety 
the little histories of his pious movements, of his benevolent enter- 
prises, of his solemn seriousness, and pious feelings, they even forget 
to mention the despised rope with which they think they move him; 
and yet they dare to talk of the Grace of God ! ! They profess to 
believe that the beast only moves, that is only does good, by the 
Grace of God ; they are so very orthodox they would not have it 
3 



18 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

thought that they believed he moved without the rope, and thus they 
imagine that no one can say that they do not trust entirely, oh yes, 
entirely, in the Grace of God, and hope to be saved " through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord^'' nay, they are sometimes earnest in declaring that 
they are so evil, they can do nothing without the grace of God ; 
meaning however, that though the beast cannot move at all without 
the rope, yet it moves extremely well with such a rope, with such a 
minister and satellite to drag it ! and thus they save their own good 
opinion, and count themselves believers, holding fast to lies and yet 
anxious to be thought valiant for the truth ! Ages ago God pointed 
out their wickedness and hypocrisy, saying, " Woe unto them that 
draw Iniquity, that is sinful man, with cords of vanity, and sin as it 
were icith a cart-rope^ (Isaiah, ch. v. 18). 

This vile and filthy beast, this wicked one, is the God which the 
Earth (the religious world) now worships, and has in this day exalted 
above Him whom yet they deceitfully call God ! (2 Thess. ch. ii.) 
This beast they set up in the chariot of their pride, and exert them- 
selves to the utmost to make him move. This Beast is sinful man, 
or the man of sin, the wicked one ; he is now revealed, triumphing 
for a season, and he hath overcome and slain the two witnesses of 
God, by which God testified to the world of Righteousness and 
Judgment, (viz. the Law and the Gospel) (Rev. xi.) both these wit- 
nesses are now slain by the beast, the exalted beast, and their dead 
bodies (the dead letter of them, that is, the Bible) are paraded about 
not buried (which were far better), but made use of for a brag and 
a vain glory. The exaltation of the beast and the dragging him 
along " hy the Grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord,'''* as 
they blasphemously say, is spiritual Wickedness; it is the same 
scene of wickedness acted spiritually and deceitfully, which is acted 
corporeally and openly among other deluded victims of Satan, 
proving the unity of Satan's kingdom in spite of the divisions and 
disputes among his servants ! showing that the world is only one 
same scene of the same wickedness in different shapes and disguises. 

The Christianity of this last day is the vilest kind of Idolatry. To 
be an idolater, is to put trust not in God, but in that which is no 
God and cannot save. They put trust in their feelings, in their 
prayings, in belonging to a confederacy, and they are idolaters, for 
there is no trust in God in all this ; this is not God ! They do evil, 
their thoughts are unclean, and polluted, their imaginations are vile 
and earthly, and yet they think that this beast, which they know is 
so vile and serves such vile purposes, will yet do good and save ! for 
to do good is real salvation. They themselves do that which is 
wicked in thoughts and deeds, and the residue of themselves they 
make a God and cry out to it " do good," that is save us ! be pious, 
be righteous, save us ! But it is a God which cannot save ! This 
idolatry is far worse than the idolatry of graven images ; for though 
the wood of a graven image may have been used for roasting roast, 
and kindling a fire (Isaiah) yet it hath not committed sin, filthy sin! 
But their God is a beast, and doeth all manner of evil ! And this is 
the worship of this day, " they worship devils and not God .*" it is 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 19 

idolatry, it is calling upon the man of sin to "do good" and save 
himself. Therefore if the worship of Juggernaut is bad, this wor- 
ship is worse ; and so it is that the Christianity of this last day is no 
more Christianity than the worship of Juggernaut. Such is the 
worship of all names and sects without any exception whatsoever; 
for though they have questions among themselves about doctrines, 
and quarrel and devour one another, they all agree in this one thing, 
viz. denying Christ, saying to filthy man " do good" " be pious," 
" be religious" " be godly," that is, setting up the man of sin as a 
God able to do good, and a Saviour able to save. They all agree in 
performing the part of Judas the son of perdition, for they sell 
Christ to the wicked, saying, " if you do a little good, if you pray, if 
you only pay the money of your piety and prayers, then you shall 
be saved, that is you shall have Christ !" Thus the man of sin (sinful 
man) the son of perdition, is revealed (selling Christ and salvation 
for paltry considerations :) who saith that he is God, and exalts him- 
self above all that is called God, for notwithstanding such wicked- 
ness they yet call the Lord, God ! The Spirit spoke expressly that 
thus it would be in the last days (2 Thess. ch. ii.) But now the time 
is come when this time of the beast shall be no longer, and as the 
Lord liveth who made heaven and all that is therein (yea the angels 
of heaven are only what they are by his choice and pleasure) and the 
earth and all that is therein (yea, it is a lie that proud and wicked 
man can make himself a child of God and be saved if he pleases) 
and the sea and all that therein is (yea, they are all the work of 
God only : none are Creators but He) this TIME shall be no longer, 
but when the seventh angel sounds, the Mystery of God will be 
finished, the power of the wicked shall be ended, and God will take 
to himself his great power ! 



CHAPTER IV. 

Justification hy faith ; that is, being made righteous by believing 

only. 

The Scripture says, " a man is justified by faith, without the deeds 
of the law,'''' (Rms. iii. v. 28.) That is, he obtains Righteousness, 
he is made perfectly righteous, by believing only, without doing any 
good whatever, without doing any thing at all. The same is said in 
the words " being justified freely , that is gratuitously, by his Grace.'''' 
Now to be justified freely, gratuitously, or for nothing, is to be jus- 
tified without doing any thing and without having any thing to do, or 
else it is not gratuitous. A man cannot be righteous or justified by 
any thing he does ; let him appear to do all good he is not righteous 
before God ,* the law requires him to do all good actions, he must do 
them, it is a debt due to the law ; but, even if he does them all, the 
Scripture declares " ^y the deeds of the law shall nofiesh be justified 
in his sight.'''' Therefore if a man fulfilled all the law perfectly, and 
did all good and no evil, yet he would not be righteous before God, 
he would not be justified in the sight of God, whatever he might be 



20 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

in the sight of men. The Word of God, which declares that a man 
cannot be justified, that is obtain Righteousness and be righteous, if 
he does ever so much, also declares that a man is justified, that is, 
obtains Righteousness and is righteous, if he does nothing at all ; and 
only believes in Jesus Christ ; saying, " a man is justified hy faith 
without the deeds of the law,^^ and also saying " hy the deeds of the 
laiv shall nofiesh be justified.''^ 

To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is to look to him as The 
Christ, that is as the anointed High Priest, to stand in our stead 
before God and to perform all things for us. To receive him to do 
all for us, and to offer up spiritual sacrifices for us, to submit to him 
to do all this, and not presumptuously to attempt to do it ourselves, 
this only is to believe in him. Christ is the Righteousness of all 
them that believe in him, they vvant no other Righteousness, the 
Righteousness of God is imputed to them, is put upon them, and they 
are perfectly righteous by this imputation of God's Righteousness, 
without their doing any thing whatever. This is being justified by 
faith ; it is receiving Righteousness as a gift by the great favour and 
kindness of God, and not getting it by doing any thing ourselves. 
Righteousness is doing good; he who looks to Christ to be his 
Righteousness, looks to him to do good for him ; this is what Christ 
does, this is what he came to do, viz. " to do the ivill of God,''"' and 
accordingly they who believe and receive him, have nothing to do, 
but to stand still, and he comes to them and is in them, and he does 
all Righteousness for them. He alone does it, they do it not ; and 
what he does he imputes to them. Thus then, they who believe in 
Christ have nothing to do, God is in them doing all things for 
them, and giving and imputing to them all his own Righteousness, 
which it is God alone who doeth. They continuing to believe, God 
continues to do all things for them, and continually imputes his own 
works to them. As they trust to him and look to him, so in propor- 
tion he does the more for them. Thus God is in his people, and the 
whole body or collection of them that believe is therefore called a 
city, where God is, as the prophet Ezekiel says, " the name of the 
city shall be, The Lord is there." Hence it is manifest that he 
who believeth in Christ has nothing to do, for when God does all 
things for him, there is nothing left for him to do. 

They who believe are made righteous (that is, are justified) by 
Grace, for it is extraordinary favour and wonderful grace indeed that 
God should condescend to dwell with man and do such great things 
for him. It is by the Promise of God, (which promise he made to 
Abraham and confirmed it by an oath) ; it is by his mere mercy, his 
everlasting mercy ; by his mere gift, his unspeakable gift, that it is 
so ! In his rich grace and wonderful love to us, he becomes OUR 
RIGHTEOUSNESS, he puts all his own Righteousness upon us, he 
imputes it unto and upon us, he clothes us and covers us completely 
in the robe of Righteousness ! No being or creature could be more 
righteous, more perfect, more holy, more pure, and more complete 
than he is, be he the filthiest wretch who crawls upon this earth, 
who does nothing, but only believes in the name of Jesus of Naza- 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 21 

reth, the Holy One of God ; who only receives him as his Anointed 
or Hio-h Priest, who looks to him, and trusts wholly to him. He is 
God manifest in the flesh, his name is Wonderful, and he is wonder- 
ful, his power is wonderful, his grace is wonderful, and his gift and 
work is wonderful to them that believe, and they, standing still and 
beholding the glory of God, and his Salvation, and his work, will 
exclaim with wonder joy and astonishment " What hath God 
icr ought /" 

Thus then, to be justified by faith, is to be made righteous; and 
we are made righteous by the imputation of Christ, the Righteous- 
ness of God, without doing, but only believing. It is not merely 
beino- made righteous by one single imputation of God's Righteous- 
ness, made once for all, and then after that being left to do good, 
which would be being left to be justified or get righteousness by the 
law, far from it. God hath said " He that is justified by the law" 
(that is, who tries to do good, or to get Righteousness by his own 
exertions) " is fallen from Grace." Righteousness is doing good, or 
else it is no Righteousness at all, and God's Righteousness is God's 
doing good. Therefore when this Righteousness is unto him that 
believes, then he has God to do good for him ; this is to have God's 
Risrhteousness. This eflectual Rio-hteousness in Jesus Christ is unto 
them that believe ; Righteousness is done for them by Christ him- 
self, and it is imputed to them as if it was their doing, though it is 
done by him only. It is done for them when they believe ; and, as 
they continue in believing, it is continually done for them ; and, as it 
is continually done for them, so it is continually imputed to them and 
put upon them. God's Righteousness, which is his doing good, is an 
everlasting Righteousness ; he continually performeth all for them 
that look to him, and his gift and grace and goodness is not moment- 
ary nor for once only, but everlasting, and therefore, as he constantly 
and unceasingly works Righteousness for his people, so he never 
ceases giving it to them and imputing it to them ! They believe and 
look to him, and he worketh Righteousness for them, and imputes it 
to them ; they continue to believe, abiding in faith, standing still and 
looking and trusting only to him, and he continues to work for them, 
and, as is written in the Psalms, to " do all things for them" and 
graciously to impute his own glorious work of Righteousness to 
them. Thus they have nothing to do, he doeth all for them. This, 
and nothing less than this, is to be justified by faith ! it is not to 
have one Righteousness imputed to us for once, but continual 
Righteousness, the continual good-doing of God himself, continually 
imputed to us, daily, hourly, unceasingly and for ever ! 

Christ has not only once done all for us, but he ever liveth, and 
does all, and will do all and every thing for us, when we wish, when 
we desire, when we want it, that is, when we believe ! By the infi- 
nite, the rich and stupendous grace of God, Righteousness is given 
unto us, and is upon us, when we believe, and it is in proportion as 
we desire it and hunger after it, " according to thy faith be it unto 
thee" that is, he who throws himself most entirely upon God, and 
trusts most to him, and longeth most after his true Righteousness 



22 THE GOSPEL OF OOD. 

(which alone is real Righteousness) will know the most of his good- 
ness and power ; but he who tries be it ever so little at his own 
power, can know nothing whatever of God. 

When we believe this, namely this doctrine, which is the doctrine 
of God, then only we believe the faithful and sure word, " Thy 
Righteovsness is an everlasting Righteousness.'''' Yea verily it is not 
a momentary Righteousness, it is not for once, and there an end of 
it, but it is for once, and it is continual, and it is for ever ! It is only 
through faith we receive this Promised gift, and not by doing any 
thing, far from it, but standing entirely still, trusting entirely to God, 
and beholding that God is God indeed, for the Scripture says, " Be 
still, and know that I am GodP'' When we cease to believe or halt 
in believing then we cease to acknowledge God, and we cease to 
behold the power which we do not acknowledge. Believing is not 
for once nor for a moment, it is enduring to the end, and the Righte- 
ousness of God, that is God's actual doing and performing Righteous- 
ness, is enduring, lasting, and continually and at every moment unto 
and upon them that continue in the faith. God even Jesus Christ 
continually doeth Righteousness for them; he does it, it is his work; 
he imputes it to them, and they are righteous. This is to be justi- 
fied by faith ! to have God at all times to do all for us, and to have 
nothing to do ourselves ! we only trusting to him, that is only 
believing ! 

Thus, the Righteousness of God is God's working, God's doing 
good : it is Christ himself, who is the Power of God, the manifested 
Righteousness of God, and who alone doeth good ! So that this 
Righteousness is an active, living, never-ending, everlasting Righte- 
ousness ! David says " Lo! he that keepeth Israel, doth neither slum- 
ber nor sleepy It is God himself in Christ who keepeth Israel in 
righteousness and true holiness; he is Righteousness, he only doeth 
Righteousness, he only is holy, he is the Holy One ! 

How, during the 42 months in which the Enemy has trodden 
down the sanctuary, in which the saints of God have been overcome 
by the beast, and have been joined to one or other of the nations and 
kindreds of the earth (the sects of the religious professors) so as not 
to be known as a separate people, as the holy nation, — yea, God's 
Israel after the spirit, has been scattered over all the face of the 
earth (i. e. among all the sects and churches of earthly sensual pro- 
fessors) they have fallen by the edge of the sword (that is the law) 
they have been led away captive into all nations (i. e. sects of the 
earth) and Jerusalem, the holy city or body of God's elect, has been 
trodden down of the Gentiles, (and was so to be for 1260 years (Rev. 
xi.) : not earthly bodily Jerusalem ; but the holy spiritual city, the 
collection of God's people : (for if earthly Jerusalem which is merely 
bricks and stones, had been signified, then the time would have 
expired near about the year 1260, because earthly Jerusalem began 
to be subjected to the gentiles when the Christian era began, and 
therefore 1260 years of that era would have fulfilled the time,) yea 
the saints of God the holy city, have been overcome by the beast all 
this Time of Abomination, in which Zion has been desolate and a 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 23 

widow, but the Time is now nearly fulfilled, for when the seventh 

angel sounds, it shall be no longer, how during all this 

Time in which the abomination of human righteousness, the swine- 
flesh offering has been set up, the Gospel of the living God has been 
prophesying in sackcloth (Rev. xi. v. 3.) *' Lo ! He that keepetk 
Israel slumbereth not f^ and yet in this TIME they who have even 
mightily preached the truth and the Righteousness of Christ, have 
preached that the Lord Our Righteousness was a slumbering and 
sleeping Righteousness ! that it was merely his obedience which he 
once gave to the law in the days of his deep humiliation, which obe- 
dience being then ended, was once for all imputed, at one putting on, 
to them who believed, and after that they had to do good as well as 
they could by the grace of God ! and so there was an end of God's 
Righteousness which is an Everlasting Righteousness ! without end, 
eternal and for ever ! This has been indeed a covering of sackcloth 
and ashes to the gold of Zion ! Blessed be God, we have not got to 
do good at all, no, not by the grace of God ! and blessed be our God, 
that by his Grace, his unspeakable grace and gift, all is done for us, 
by Christ Jesus our Lord, the Messiah of God, and we have nothing 
whatever to do ! 

The saints of God have been overcome by the beast, during all 
the Time of the Abomination, (which Time began in the midst of 
the first seven hundred years or week of centuries) for power has 
been given to the Beast over them. The Time of the Abomination 
began in the midst of the first seven hundred years after the death 
of Christ ; it began with the Romish Church, and has continued till 
now. The first seven hundred years is called in Daniel a week, for 
it is a week of centuries : during this week God confirmed his Cove- 
nant in Christ with many, even thousands and thousands of his 
beloved people, but in the midst of this week the abomination of 
human works and piety was set up, and the pure oblation and sacri- 
fice which Christ alone offers up to God was made to cease, and that 
desolation (which now has come to its full) then began. " And he 
shall confirm the covenant with many for one week : and in the midst 
of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and 
for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even 
until the consummation, and that determined shall he poured upon the 
desolated (Daniel, ch. ix. v. 27.) During all this Time, God's elect, 
the holy city, has been trodden under foot, the people of God have 
been overcome by the Beast, which has reigned and ruled all this 
Time. Being thus overcome they have not seen Christ to be actu- 
ally and truly the whole and sole doer of Righteousness for them 
that receive him ; our whole and sole Righteousness, both active and 
passive, and of all kinds ; yea, if there be ten million different kinds 
of Righteousness, then he is all of them to us, for he is " Our Righte- 
ousness'''' which includes of all kinds ! Not knowing this, not know- 
ing the power of God, (though exceedingly elated and swelled up 
with what we did know,) especially we, the last of them (Laodicea) 
who have said we knew all, and were rich and increased in goods 
and had need of nothing, and knew not our real situation (Rev. iii. IT), 



24 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

we have greatly erred, and have been overcome by the beast, as 
it is written, " and it was given unto him to mahe war with the saints 
and to overcome them : and power was given him over all kindreds 
and tongues and nations,^' (Rev. xiii. v. 7.) He who will believe 
God's word, and not be disobedient, must submit and confess that all 
without any exception have been overcome. 

Thus then the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ is not 
merely one imputation, but it is a perpetual and unceasing imputa- 
tion ; his work of Righteousness is not one work, done and ended 
when he was on the earth, but he is " with us always even to the end 
of the world,^^ and all his beauty, his glory, his perfection, his grace, 
his work, his power, is with us too, that is when we believe, and then 
according to our faith. This is a perfect, a continued and unceasing 
work, he does all for the believer and he imputes all that he does, 
and that is all Righteousness, to the believer. This and only this is 
justification by faith, being made righteous by Christ without our 
doing any thing : doing all and perfect Righteousness, yea walking 
and living in Righteousness with God, without doing any thing, and 
without any the least thing whatever to do! having Rest, having 
nothing to do ! believing in God only to do all, trusting the work 
entirely to Christ the Power of God, The Anointed High Priest : 
yea, not fearing to cast all the burden and all the care upon him ! 
This is justification by faith, and short of this, or part of this, is not 
justification by faith ! 

All that is here said is fully comprehended in the words " Christ 
is our life,^'' there is no life except in Righteousness, that is doing 
good, and Christ, a new man, is the only man who doeth Righteous- 
ness; he is Righteousness, even the Righteousness of God! To do 
evil or wrong is unrighteousness, that is death and a curse. From 
this death in trespasses and sins God maketh his people alive, or, as 
it is written, he quickeneth them : it is a great grace and favour for 
him to do so : and he doeth this by the word, giving unto them to 
hear his word by his holy Spirit, which is understanding : and then, 
understanding the word, they hear and believe. This is to receive 
life, this is to be raised from the dead, this is to enter into the king- 
dom of heaven, this is to be born of the word (which is called water) 
and of the Spirit (that is understanding). It is simply to believe. 
They who have understanding (which is the Spirit of God) they hear 
and believe : without this understanding, " man is like the beasts that 
perish.''^ 

Yes ! to be justified by faith is to receive Righteousness or life, 
only and simply in looking to God, and trusting to him in Jesus 
Christ. This all will do who are wise and understand trusting him 
the Christ, without working or doing at all, leaving that entirely to 
Him ! This is to believe, and he who believes is justified by faith, 
that is, he receives Christ to do Righteousness for him, and to make 
him a doer of Righteousness, not for once only, but daily, hourly, 
continually, yea every moment of our existence ! By his death he 
took away all our sins in his own body on the tree ; he suffered for 
our transgressions, and thus God doth not impute sin unto us ; all 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 25 

our sins are hereby removed from us as far as the East is from the 
West, and we are made righteous or justified by his death : thus all 
Israel was justified when they laid their hands on the sacrifice which 
was slain. He shed his blood for us, and cleansed us from all sin, so 
that we are made righteous, or, justified by his blood ; and thus all 
the saints of old were justified being sprinkled by the blood, and thus 
the saints of God in the Time of this abomination have been justi- 
fied, who have had no hope in their doing good, but only in his 
blood ! But this is not all, though this is all that David and the 
prophets knew, and this is all that the elect of God have known dur- 
ing the Time of abomination, since the first week of seven hundred 
years. We are also justified by his life, " he rose again for our jus- 
tification.'''* That is, he not only suffered death to destroy the body 
of sin and death, and so he justified us ; he not only shed his blood 
and sprinkled us therewith and made us clean from all our sins, and 
so he justified us ; but what is more glorious still is the glory which 
was to follow his suffering and bloodshedding. (1 Peter, ch. i. 11, 
12). He rose again to live in his people, to bless them with the 
power and presence of his Righteousness, to be their life, to do all 
things for them, to work all their works in them, that they might 
live and have life more abundantly. Thus we are justified, made 
righteous, made (by imputation) doers of Righteousness, by his life, 
by his living in us, and being in us, and dwelling in us, " performing 
all things for us /" This is what the Holy Ghost signifies when it 
is said, " he rose again for our justification.'''' So that he not only 
justifies his saints by his death and by his blood, by suffering for and 
taking away all our sins, but by his life also, by living in them, and 
He himself working all Righteousness for them ! This is " the 
power of his resurrection,'''' the glory which should follow his death 
and sufferings. This is a great glory, as far above the being only 
cleansed from all sin, as to do Righteousness is far above being 
merely not unrighteous. As to have no sin imputed to us is blessed 
indeed, and this was the case with David, so to have no sin imputed 
to us, and also moreover to have actual Righteousness imputed to us 
and so to be doers of Righteousness, is far more glorious and blessed ! 
and this was what David and the prophets searched to know (1 
Peter, i. 10.) God is glorified hereby, for indeed it is not a glory to 
us, but to God ! " Herein is my Father glorified that ye bring forth 
much fruit /" If we did the works it would be a glory to us, but 
Christ alone doeth them and God is glorified by Christ. The saints 
of old searched to know of this (Peter). After the resurrection of 
Jesus Christ, his people enjoyed this life and glory for one week of 
seven hundred years, and in the midst of this week the abomination 
of the piety of a beast, a counterfeit Christianity began, which was 
to last for 42 months, that is 1260 years, and which has since made 
altogether desolate. (Dan. ix. 27.) For 700 years, or a week, the 
Everlasting Covenant of the Promise in Christ Jesus the seed of 
Abraham was confirmed with many, yea with multitudes, of God's 
beloved who believed in his Name. Since then until now, (when the 
Times of the Gentiles are fulfilled) the glory of the Gospel has been 
4 



26 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

fiidden, and this witness of God's Righteousness has testified in 
sackcloth, (Rev. xi. 3). The word of God is express which de- 
clared beforehand that it should be for 1260 years. (Dan. viii. 14 ; 
Dan. xii. 7 ; Rev. xi. 2 ; Rev. xi. 3; Rev. xii. 6, 14). 

During all the Time in which the riches of the glory of this Mys- 
tery have been hidden from a proud and wicked and learned Earth 
(for God would not cast his pearls before those who would trample 
them under their feet, not one of the chosen seed has been lost, 
though the glory has been dimmed. God has nourished his Church 
though it was in the wilderness (Rev. xii. 6) and foolish faithless and 
provoking as those who were 40 years in the wilderness (1 Cor. x. 
11) nor, in all this Time would one, no not a single one of the wicked 
and self-sanctifiers have believed in Christ alone for Righteousness, 
no, not even if nothing had been hid, if their eyes had not been 
blinded, and Christ had told them all ! ^^ If I tell you, ye will not 
believe.^'' The enemies of God under the guise of zealous believers, 
denying his words, setting up their own doctrines and yet pretending 
to be his servants, were to be, and to have power for a Time to show 
themselves, to be let alone to do their will and build their buildings 
(though even this only just so far as God had willed) and while this 
has been, Christ has been waiting till the Time should be no more, 
till his enemies should be made his footstool : the heavens have re- 
ceived him till this Time is accomplished (Acts, iii. 21), and now, 
the Time shall be no longer, and he will shortly appear, in the 
clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and all his holy angels 
with him! (Acts, i. 11) and the Mystery of God will be finished. 

This great and glorious Truth and Mystery of godliness, even of 
Jesus Christ coming in the flesh, and doing all for his people., work- 
ing all his works in them, they having nothing to do, they only be- 
lieving, no one in heaven or in earth could ever find out ! There 
have been during the 42 months wise and learned men, yea, there 
have been saints and prophets of God who have truly testified of 
Christ, (though in sackcloth,) and yet, what God hath not been 
pleased to make known, no man hath known. The very length of 
time it has been hid, is as if it were to humble the pride of all men, 
and to let them know that the things of God knoweth no man ! 
(1 Cor. ii. 11) no ! no man ! but only the Spirit of God ! Boasting is 
altogether excluded from the reach of filthy flesh, that is from us the 
children of Adam. 



CHAPTER V. 

What Antichrist is, and that he now reigns in the Earth (the religions 

world). 

It has been seen that the Righteousness of God (and that, not a 
momentary, but a perpetual ; not a passive but an active Righteous- 
ness) is unto all and upon all them that believe ; that Christ Jesus 
himself does all for them, and they have nothing to do. It is so ! 

It may be said, if this be the case, then Jesus Christ is again on 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 27 

the earth, and is not only come once in the flesh in his own body, 
but is come again in the flesh in them that beUeve. Since He who 
was manifested at the appointed time, being born of the virgin Mary, 
comes and dwells in them that believe, and is in them, then Jesus 
Christ is come in the flesh. It is so : this is the doctrine of God 
laid open in this little book, namely, that he who believeth only in 
Him hath nothing to do, for Jesus Christ cometh and dwelleth in 
him, in the flesh, and doeth all and every thing for him, even all the 
will of God, which as it is written in the Psalms he came on purpose 
to do. He comes in the flesh to him who believes, having cleansed 
him and washed him and made him a holy vessel of God ! 

Whosoever he be who does not confess this truth, he is Antichrist ; 
whosoever he be who saith that the sinner has got any thing to do, 
and does hot openly declare and confess that it is Jesus Christ who 
doeth all Righteousness or good, who alone doeth it, and is it, he, 
even he is Antichrist ! No one can now any longer be deceived, 
unless he is determined to be deceived and to perish ! for this doc- 
trine is given of God as a sure and positive test to try whether 
preachers or prophets are deceivers and false prophets, speaking lies 
in hypocrisy, speaking by the Spirit of falsehood, or whether they 
are of God. God hath had great mercy upon us in this latter day 
by giving us this sure test, that we may not be deceived by the son 
of perdition, even Antichrist and the beast, though he be transformed 
into an angel of light and speak like a lamb, prating about the " dear 
Redeemer" in all hypocrisy and all deceivableness of unrighteous- 
ness. Whosoever does not teach that Christ doeth all and the 
sinner hath nothing to do ; that is, that Jesus Christ is come in the 
flesh and is the only worker of Righteousness ; who preaches " do 
good,^^ saying that the sinner who believes has got to do good, — he 
is not of God, he is a false prophet ! he is a worshipper of the beast 
or of the image of the beast, (that is either of himself or what he 
calls his regenerated self, a mere fiction, an image of himself.) 

" Hereby know ye the Spirit of God : every spirit that confesseth 
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God ; and every spirit that 
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the fleshy is not of God. 
And this is that Spirit of Antichrist^ whereof ye have heard that it 
should come ; and even now already is it in the worldJ'^ 1 John, iv. 
2, 3. 

Yea, they who believe have nothing to do, Christ doeth all, him- 
self, for them, he is in them, he is come in the flesh ! It is only 
thus that Jesus Christ can come in the flesh, even coming and being 
in them that believe and receive him ! for, when he came into the 
world in the due time, it was not Jesus Christ who then came in the 
flesh, but God who came and was manifest in the flesh, and the 
Word being made flesh, was then first called Jesus ; this is the 
Christ ! This is that Jesus Christ who to them that believe in his 
Name, comes in the flesh, and all his Work and Beauty and Righte- 
ousness comes with him! Not to receive and confess this holy truth 
is to deny and refuse Jesus Christ ! And to teach any other doc- 
trine, saying to evil man " do good'^ is not to confess it, is Anti- 



28 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

Christ, yea, this is Antichrist which should come, and which should 
reign and overcome for 42 months, that is 1260 years. All the 
religious doctrine of this present day is Antichrist, the whole reli- 
gion of this present Time is Antichrist. Not only they do not con- 
fess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, to him that believes, and 
that He alone bringeth forth in him Righteousness and all its fruits 
(Phil. i. 11), but they know nothing whatever about it in their sen- 
sual doctrine, and therefore cannot confess it ; the whole doctrine of 
God is a strange thing to their natural understandings ; the very 
first rudiments of the doctrine of Christ are strange and unknown to 
them : they are in confusion, and stare one at another, and grope in 
the dark ; their faces are as flames : while they wonder how it is 
that with all their fleshly labours and pious pride they do not make a 
better show in the flesh (seeing but not opening their eyes to the 
vanity of their doings), and in their confusion they vainly call upon 
God and his holy Spirit to join with them in " doing good" and to 
help them ! to become a servant and a helpmate to them and the 
satellite of their religious lusts, to drag along with them the chariot 
of the beast, the filthy sinful and lascivious beast, which they toil 
and labour to move and drag along. But it does not move, and the 
city of confusion laments and cries aloud and urges on the beast in 
vain ! 

- Christ was before all worlds ; the Lamb of God, slain before the 
foundation of the world, in whom alone, since the world began, all 
who have been saved, have been saved. When in the fulness of time 
he came into the world, and was born of a woman, he was then first, 
having become man, named Jesus: and was then first the man Christ 
Jesus. This man in whom God is manifested, even this Jesus Christ 
the Lord of Glory, is come in the flesh, to dwell in the body of all 
those who believe in him: (2 Cor. vi. 16. Coloss. i. 27. Rs. viii. 
10. 1 John, iv. 4. Isaiah, xii. 6 ; xxvi. 12. Ezkl. xlviiii. 35) : he 
comes in them to do all righteousness for them and instead of them, 
and they have nothing to do, and must do nothing, but stand still. 
He that knoweth not this knoweth not the truth to this day, and he 
that will not receive and confess this is Antichrist. Hereby we know 
that this is the last Time, (the Time which shall be no longer,) be- 
cause this truth is bitterly opposed, and the lie that man doeth good 
(not Christ only) is the doctrine taught and which reigns in the 
earth (that is the religious world) in this day. 

This is the truth declared by John, the last disciple, and for our 
sakes, that we might be certain and know assuredly, with full assur- 
ance of understanding, the only true doctrine of Christ, and who and 
what Antichrist is, who opposeth Christ and exalteth himself above 
Christ and God, whom yet they call God ! It is the religion and 
profession of this last day, viz. professing that man doeth good, and 
not confessing that only Jesus Christ doeth good, being come in the 
flesh to them that believe, doing it for them. 

This is the Mystery of Godliness and it is a very great mystery 
indeed, which Antichrist with all his piety and hopeful seriousness 
does not know nor confess. The godliness or piety which Antichrist 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 29 

preaches (which is not godliness, but is an abomination) is no mys- 
tery, it is a work which any fleshly man can perform and assume, 
whereas, to them who only believe, God himself is the worker : He, 
the Almighty God, performeth all for them, and this is a great Mys- 
tery ! It is one of the wonders of the wonderful God ! (Isaiah.) It 
is truly wonderful, it is stupendous, it is beyond understanding, that 
God himself, the Mighty God, even the glorified Jesus Christ, should 
stoop so low, and come in the flesh, yea " even to the rebellious also'''' 
and the ungodly, and dwell in his people who receive him, and he in 
them and walk in them, and he their God ! 

And doth Jesus Christ come in the flesh and do nothing 1 or only 
do part good 1 part Righteousness 1 does he leave the needy helpless 
sinner who receives him to do good ? to do any thing at all ? Nay 
verily ! when he comes, Life and Power and Righteousness and Holi- 
ness, all the work and all the fruits of Righteousness come with him 
and are by him, and remain, even more than would suffice to purify 
and sanctify millions of worlds ! What then has he who believes to 
do ? He has to do nothing ; he must stand still, believe, trust to, 
receive and acknowledge God ! in a word, he has only to submit to 
God ! He who does not confess this Truth, he is a deceiver and an 
Antichrist. 

What astonishing mercy and goodness, what exceeding great love ! 
that God himself should provide Righteousness for and give it freely, 
to the ungodly, to a sinful and rebellious people ! a people lost in 
sins, devoted to unrighteousness, and obstinately, perversely, invin- 
cibly, and irreclaimably corrupted, and addicted to deceitful lusts ! 
And to provide Righteousness for them by means of one of them, 
which would have been impossible but that he provided a new man 
like unto them in every thing except in sin, a righteous man, a Holy 
One ! And what not to be uttered Love, to provide this Holy One, 
this man the conqueror of sin and doer of Righteousness, by his own 
self entering into a body of man, and becoming man ! And the 
Mighty God, the Everlasting Father having stooped down to dwell 
in a fleshly temple, then to suffer patiently all degradation and 
misery and contumely and insult, from his own creatures ! to be an 
afflicted man, a cursed man, cursed for the sake of others, and to 
suffer death as a man, and to take on himself the curse and condem- 
nation of the law, and all this for the sake of those who were sinful, 
and guilty, yea those who reviled and pierced him ! But, O mons- 
trous iniquity ! after God has done all this, and provided Righteous- 
ness for the sinful — that men loudly professing heartily and zealously 
to believe what he has done, should rise up, saying, that what he had 
done was good for nothing ! saying that they, evil beings, must per- 
form that which is far from them, viz. Righteousness ! Thus saying 
to God who has done so much, that he need not have taken so much 
pains to provide Righteousness, but (since it must be provided) they 
will provide it themselves ! This is trampling under foot, utterly- 
insulting the Son of God and crucifying him afresh ! Because verily, 
as the Lord God liveth, if there could exist any such thing as Righte- 
ousness from evil men and women who onlv do evil and that con- 



30 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

tinually, then Christ need not have suffered at all, then all that he 
suffered was vain and useless ! Therefore highly excellent as human 
piety and Righteousness appears to us blind and wicked flesh, to 
preach to sinful man " do good" " be pious" " be godly," or do any 
thing at all of this work which is God's gracious work, which ex- 
pressly belongs to Him, is to trample under foot the Son of God and 
to do despite to the Spirit of Grace. 

Shocking spectacle ! to see a number of poor sinful worms clothed 
for a short moment in a little respectability and honour, fat with 
pride and filthy with sins, — to see them strutting about and putting 
on pious looks, calling themselves reverend men and yet calling 
themselves hell-deserving sinners, and dreaming how nice and pretty 
they are before God, because of their nice feelings and pious little 
doings and attractions ! And all the while that they are so busy and 
making such haste to do their wicked good, the Son of God has 
stooped to suffer, (and they pretend to know it and teach it) to do 
real good and all good, and to provide all Righteousness, even the 
Righteousness of God for and instead of the ungodly ! 

If there could be such a creature as a good man, a doer of good 
among the children of Adam, then the express word of God, even 
the law of God would be a lie, which declares " there is none that 
doeth good, no not oney He therefore who believeth not in Christ 
the Righteousness of God, but worketh for himself to do righteous- 
ness, he maketh God a liar. (1 John, v. 10). 

But since we men are too deplorably and maliciously wicked ever 
to be good or to do Righteousness, blessed for ever blessed be our 
God, for the good news, for the glad tidings, — we have not got any to 
do ! And blessed be God for his unspeakable gift, we are not desti- 
tute of Righteousness, (if we were we should perish) but the Lord is 
Our Righteousness, even the Lord who gave himself for us, and we 
are perfectly righteous in " OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." 

Herein is blessedness, here is liberality and grace, here is the un- 
speakable gift, here is good news, here is the talent of pure gold 
(which the churlish usurer who preaches " pay something,^^ " pay 
something,'''' hides and buries and wraps up in the filthy napkin of 
human Righteousness, and being an austere man says that he knows 
God is snch an one as himself and wants pay, and he is afraid of the 
exceeding rich liberality, and hides the truth and preaches usury, 
Luke, xix. 20, 21) yes! herein is blessedness and bounty, and rich 
grace and glory and salvation, namely, that the needy wretched sin- 
ner has nothing to do, that is, nothing to give, nothing to pay, no. 
Nothing, Nothing ! Blessed be God ! 

God the Saviour, the Redeemer, the Righteous One, the Holy One 
of Israel, doeth Righteousness and is Righteousness for him ! he is 
redeemed from under the heavy obligation of " do good" and from 
the horrible curse, which inevitably rests upon and adheres to every 
creature which doeth evil. The curse is removed with the obliga- 
tion which produced it. He is redeemed from under it ! He has no 
longer got one jot or tittle of it to do, it is all done for him ! There 
is no longer any wall of partition between him and his God ; there is 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 31 

no longer any veil between, it is rent in twain, it is taken out of the 
way : now he has peace with God, now, only believing, he has access 
to God ; there is no sin upon him, " God beholdetli no iniquity in 
Jacob,^^ he is cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ the 
Lamb of God, he is cleansed by the word (the water of life) even 
Christ, by which Word the living water, he is begotten again born 
into a new life (this is to be born of water) God is with him and 
dwelleth in him, he shall never perish, God is faithful ! This is the 
faith of God's elect, this is the faith of Christ, the faith once 
delivered to the saints : that Christ only doeth good, he undertakes 
to do it all and does it all for his people who receive him, who are 
all without exception who will, that is, who wish and desire to take 
of the water of life freely, that is, gratuitously, not giving any thing, 
doing nothing ! (Rev. xxii. 17.) He comes to all such who only be- 
lieve, and he is with them, and he is in them, and he, and he alone 
and no one with him doeth good, that is all Righteousness for them 
and instead of them ! This is the doctrine of God ! not to confess 
this, not to preach this, to teach any other doctrine than this, to say 
to men " do good" is Antichrist ! and a deceiver ! (2 John, i. 7). 
" Many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that 
Jesus Christ is come in the fiesh ; this is a deceiver and an Anti- 
christ.^'' 

And now Antichrist who was to come in the last days, is revealed 
in all his power and glory : This Time is the time in which the beast, 
the man of sin, the wicked one, is exalted above all that is called 
God (2 Thess. ii. 3, 4) ; the harlot seated and built upon the founda- 
tion of this beast (not built upon Christ the only foundation) has 
overspread the earth (the religious world) w^ith the abomination of 
her fornications and self-decorations of her own piety, and now this 
beast has slain the two witnesses, the law and the gospel, utterly 
despising them both, and yet has not buried them, but hawks about 
and parades up and down their dead bodies, (viz. the dead and de- 
spised letter, the bible,) and sends them about with their books and 
tracts by ship loads and cart loads as presents to one another and as 
marks of the triumph of the piety and goodness of impious and 
wicked man ! (Rev. xi. 10). In all the Time of 1260 years, the glory 
of Zion has been dimmed, and the beast has prevailed and prospered, 
but, the complete extinction of all truth, the complete triumph of the 
beast and its fleshly piety, the gross darkness covering the earth (the 
professors of earthly religion), was reserved for this very day ! (Rev. 
ii. 7.) But, as the Lord liveth, the time shall be no longer ! 



CHAPTER VI. 

Why has the sinner and the ungodly who believe nothing to do ? Is 
it because nothing need be done 1 

They who believe in Christ as their Righteousness have God in 
them to do all things for them ; the Spirit of God dwelleth in them, 
the Spirit of Christ is in them, Christ is in them (Rom. viii. 9, 10)^ 



32 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

and having Him to do all things for them, they have nothing to do, 
or in other words, they are not under the law. 

But if a man does not by faith receive Jesus Christ as the fulfiller 
of the whole law for him, as his Righteousness, (and that, not a pas- 
sive inert Righteousness, not a dream or imagination, but an active 
powerful Righteousness who worketh mightily,) then he is under the 
law for he does not believe, and then he has every thing to do, and 
he cannot possibly escape from it, he must fulfil it in every jot and 
tittle, or he is cursed : for the law is in full force, the Gospel does 
not set it aside, God forbid ! the Gospel confirms it. 

It is only he who believeth in Christ Jesus to do all Righteousness 
for him, who really desires and looks to him to do it, — it is only 
such a one who is delivered from the law and from the curse, and 
has nothing whatever to do, because it is all done for him ; he re- 
ceives the Holy One to do all for him and bless him. If this is not 
the case with a man, if he does not receive this Holy One of God, 
the whole burden and obligation of the law is upon him, he is bound 
to the law, he is married to it, and woe unto him if he putteth away 
his wife, that is, if he cast off the law of God and think that he dare 
treat its solemn demands in all things with lightness. God is not 
mocked, the law is true and cannot be evaded nor partially obeyed, 
nor violated in the least degree, by any one, whosoever he be. 

It is most certain and true that he who believes is not under the 
law which commands to do good ; it is most certain and true that he 
has not got to do good, he has not got any thing to do ! No ! blessed 
be our God, he has not got any thing to do, he is free ! Christ has 
made him free ! " He is dead to the law by the body of Christ ; he is 
married to another, even to Him who is risen from the dead.''^ 

But what is the reason why he has nothing to do 1 Is it because 
nothing needs to be done ? Is it because no Righteousness is to be 
done ? God forbid. So far from there being no Righteousness to 
be done, Christ came for the very purpose that he might do it, that 
so he might save us who would not do it. " Lo ! I come to do thy 
will, O God:' 

Tliis was why he became man, that man might fulfil the law, and 
so man might be saved. For no one can possibly be saved if the 
whole Righteousness of the law is not fulfilled, either really by him, 
or imputedly by him, that is by Christ, for him. Not part by him 
and part by Christ ; if he fulfils only part, the whole is broken 
(James, ii. 10), and if Christ fulfils only part, then also all is not ful- 
filled and the whole is broken: therefore this wicked doctrine of 
believing and having something to do at the same time, is a double 
transgression of the law, and is an utter abomination ; it is adultery, 
a being joined to two, viz. the Law and Christ, and being false to 
both : and this religious generation (the earth) is an adulterous 
generation ! If a man does not entirely receive Christ to do all for 
him, and he himself to do nothing, the whole law is not fulfilled, and 
he cannot be saved : he totally rejects and denies Christ by only 
partially receiving him, and is an infidel : he totally violates the law 
by only partially obeying it, and is a transgressor and is cursed ! 



i^ 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 33 

(such is the earth,) and it brings forth thorns and is nigh unto burn- 
ing, for these are they who sin wilfully (Hebrews, x. 26, 27.) 
Wherefore, and be it again and again repeated, a man cannot be 
saved, except the law is perfectly and completely fulfilled : sin and 
malice are no jest, and the law which taketh just and sure vengeance, 
is no jest neither ! Woe to them who trifle with these ! 

Jesus Christ the Son of God came for the express purpose, and 
was delivered unto death that he, even he (not we) might destroy the 
works of the devil ! (1 John, iii. 8.) But if nothing need be done, 
then Christ need not have died ; and if we could do what yet must 
be done, then he need not have died : but he died that He might fulfil 
all Righteousness, even the whole law for the ungodly, because it 
was impossible for them through their wickedness and weakness to 
do it ; and yet if it was not done, it was impossible for them to be 
saved : for it is utterly impossible for any one to be saved, if all the 
law is not fulfilled perfectly. 

Therefore Righteousness is to be done, it must be done, there is 
no peace or salvation without it : he that doeth unrighteousness is of 
the devil, he is not of God ; and he that does not hunger and thirst 
after Righteousness, even real Righteousness in deed, not in word, 
does not desire to be delivered from the works of the devil, he does 
not want or care for Christ. So then he who does not truly desire 
to be delivered from all his own evil ways in every respect and in all 
things, he does not wish to be saved, he does not look to be saved, 
that is, he does not believe, and he cannot possibly be saved ! God 
himself could not save him, for he changes not, and he could not 
break the law! if he would, that cup should have passed from Christ! 
and therefore if a man does not wish and desire to have Christ alone, 
really to fulfil all the law for him and save him completely and in 
very deed from all and every one of his sins, God himself cannot 
save that man ! he does not believe, that is, he does not wish to be 
saved ! He who has any one sin however small in his own eyes, 
which he does not long to be delivered from, which he does not wish 
to forsake, he loveth unrighteousness and not Rigriteousness, he does 
not desire Christ, that is true Righteousness, he does not wish to be 
saved, he does not want deliverance, he loveth wickedness, he does 
not look to Christ to deliver him : in a word, he does not believe, 
and he cannot possibly be saved ! But " if any man will do," (that 
is, wishes to do) the will of God, (that is, Righteousness) and not to 
do the will of the flesh "Af sholl knoio the doctrine of God,''"' (John, 
vii. 17) he shall know the Salvation of God, that Christ Jesus 
saveth his people that look to him, doing all things for them, even 
all the will of God, delivering them from sin, and they have nothing 
of this his work to do ! For this, even this, is the glorious proclama- 
tion of the Gospel of the living God, namely, whosoever really 
wishes to be saved, he shall infallibly be saved ! If a man wishes to 
take the waters of life, freely (that is, gratuitously) let him take I 
and he shall be saved. 

Let no one therefore blindly imagine that Christ and the works of 
darkness, or any work of darkness, can possibly have any union 
5 



84 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

together. The poor and needy sinner will not so deceive himself* 
Vile and unconquerable as are his lusts, overwhelming as his sins 
are, over and over again that he has fallen under them, and then still 
more over and over again that he has fallen under them, and so 
always he has gone on, continually falling under them, yet he longs 
to be delivered from them : though he is not worthy of the least of 
all God's mercies (Gen. xxxii. 10), though his sins are '■'■more in 
number than the hairs of his head,'''' though they are as scarlet, and 
he " is a beast before God,''^ yet he desires to be delivered from 
them, he abhors himself. His misery and despair, his shame and 
infamy is, that it is utterly impossible for him to overcome them and 
to do good, that he is in prison and cannot escape ; he knows this to 
be the case, to his shame and sorrow, he knows that he has no 
Righteousness, none at all ! Such an one is poor, truly poor, and if 
he knows it, God says the Psalmist has taught him this out of his 
law, and he is blessed ! also he is needy, because he is in need, he 
would fain have Righteousness, he wants it, he longeth for it, this 
wisdom also cometh from God ! it is not to be found in the proud 
heart of man. 

Why then has such a sinner, if he believes, nothing to do ? Why 
is he saved, doing nothing, but only looking to Christ? Not because 
he may continue in sin, that is, not be saved at all, (for sin is death 
and a curse) no, God forbid ! but, he has nothing to do, and must do 
nothing, because Christ himself has undertaken to do all, and will do 
all for him ! It is the Promise, the Covenant of God ! He will do 
it himself, personally and alone and unassisted, this is his Covenant ! 
He will take off all the task and toil from the captive sinner, he will 
set him free and ease him of all his hard work, he, the Christ, will 
give him rest, this is his salvation ! This is why the sinner has 
nothing to do, even because there is nothing to be done by him, 
when Christ does all ! Yea, he himself will do all and every thing, 
he alone, and unassisted, the sinner doing nothing at all, only desiring 
him to do it, only trusting to him; ^^ the battle is not yours but 
God''s /" O ! the unspeakable riches of Christ ! 

Christ will do all this because of his Promise, confirmed by an 
oath, and because of his rich grace and unspeakable mercy. It is 
the mere mercy of God — -it is out of his mere mercy that he hath 
promised, and that he doeth all for us. He will do it, (he is faithful 
and hath spoken) for every poor captive laden with the utmost load 
of iniquity and uncleanness, who only looks to him to do it, who truly 
desires him to do it, that is, who believes. " Come unto me, he says, 
and I will give you Rest /" and he says, " Whosoever cometh unto 
me, I will in no wise cast out.'''' 

So that the sinner has nothing to do, because it is unnecessary and 
superfluous that he should do any thing whatever, since all is done 
for him, since such a " Mighty God and WonderfuV is with him, 
graciously condescending to do for him all that should bs done, even 
all the perfect Righteousness which the law declares. If the wicked 
dinner was good and not bad, and then could do good, there would be 
nothing whatever for him to do when a better than he did all and 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 35 

every thing, lacking nothing : how much less therefore is there any 
thing to do when he is bad, and being so bad, can and does only 
bring forth that which is exceedingly bad ? 

Therefore, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt BE 
Sx4lVED," thou shalt not have any thing to do, that is to save thy- 
self. And thou shalt be saved in very deed, sin shall not have 
dominion over yoy : you shall be saved from your sins by the grace 
of Christ ; it is a favour and mercy when a man is delivered from 
the power of sin; a favour from God towards him, not, as the earth 
(the religious professors) wickedly imagine a favour from him 
towards God : God forbid ! It does no good to God, it is no benefit 
to him when we do not commit sin, but to us it is a great benefit, a 
very great favour from God, it is life and peace, and this Grace is 
what God gives to them that believe. He gives it to all of them, 
more or less as it pleaseth him, for he giveth to every one of us who 
believe severally as he will. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Son of Perdition, and his doctrine ; a cry against the Earth, 

By his death and sufferings Christ has purchased eternal life for 
all them who (being ordained to eternal life,) shall believe in his 
name. This is not an imperfect nor a doubtful purchase ; he not 
only paid enough, he ^^ paid double for all our sins;^'' and, also he 
knew those whom he purchased : " / knoiD them.'''' The purchase is 
complete, and nothing is lacking, nothing is to be done by him who 
believes to further the finished work of Christ. But they who labour, 
who do something for the purchase of life, when Christ himself has 
finished the work, are either totally ignorant of the existence of 
such a Saviour as this, or if they have heard of him, they totally 
deny his power to save: for it is impossible to believe ihat he is The 
Christ and Saviour, if a man says there is something still that ought 
to be done for this salvation. Christ having taken all that the sinner 
ought to do, upon himself, and since the law cannot be broken, he 
himself having fulfilled it for them, and since Righteousness must 
positively be done, he himself having done it, and ever doing it for 
them who receive him, then after all this, to say that any Righte- 
ousness whatever remains to be done, and to be done by the sinner, 
is effectually to say that Jesus Christ is no Saviour at all, and that 
the sinner must save himself. This is a much more complete and 
outrageous denial and rejection of Christ the Lord of glory, than 
they were guilty of who spat in his face and nailed him to the Cross. 
If Christ had yet left any thing to be done by the sinner that be- 
lieves, there could be no salvation ; for if it were ever so small a 
thing, there could not be salvation if it were not done ; and it is cer- 
tain the sinner would never do it, (for the law of God declares that 
there is none that doeth good, no, not one,) and therefore it is certain 
that if he had any good to do, he would never do it, (for to do good 
is not in a sinner,) and so there would be no Salvation. But if the 



36 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

law of God were false, and if it were true that the sinner really did 
good, even a little good, then it would not be Christ's salvation, it 
would be the sinner's own, and the glory of it would be his. But 
again, if the sinner did good, how would he be a sinner? It is an 
absurd contradiction ; the Scripture makes no mention of good sin- 
ners, that is, of good bad men ; man is not half good and half a 
sinner ; he is a sinner ! , 

Therefore, and for ever blessed and praised be our God, for the 
good news, the rich grace ; — therefore the unhappy sinner that 
thirsteth after Righteousness, has not got to do any good whatever ! 
no, not the least jot or tittle. " OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS is per- 
fect ; Jesus is the Christ, that is, the perfect Saviour ; he has done 
all, he doeth all, and he leaves nothing to be done by man, wicked 
man, to assist or promote, or finish his perfect salvation. 

The wicked being full of deceit and deception, pretend to say that 
they do believe that Christ has done all and that his salvation is a 
finished and perfect salvation ! Oh yes ! they fully believe and preach 
all this! but, they say, the sinner must do something in order to 
obtain it ; he must pray, read his Bible, search the Scriptures, ask, 
seek, knock, use means, &c., and then the sinner will get it ! This 
is their main doctrine, this is their strong tower ! God foreknew 
them ! God foresaw their wicked shifts and evasions to overthrow 
his Grace, and cast Christ down from his excellency ; by which they 
would pretend to believe, while they crucified afresh the Lord of 
Glory. He foreknew it all, that they would sell Christ for the vile 
money, the base consideration of the abomination of human prayers, 
and duties, and something to be done by the beast ! knowing them of 
old, he called them and their whole doctrine collectively, ages before 
they were born, '-'-the Son of Perdition /" (2 Thess. ii. 3) because like 
Judas the Son of perdition, pretending greatly to love the Saviour, to 
believe in him and to follow him, yet, while they kiss him, they sell 
him ! 

They willingly are ignorant, that though he who thirsts after 
Righteousness, asks, and begs, and knocks, yet it is God who freely, 
i. e. gratuitously gives him eternal life, and not for praying for it, 
no ; but for nothing ! freely ! Who gives it him only because it is 
his good will and pleasure ; even because he is very very gracious 
and merciful ; who gives it him because he has always and before 
the world began, intended and proposed to give it him ! because he 
has chosen him to give it him ! because he has loved him with an 
everlasting love ! and this elect soul prays, because it is the Spirit 
of God which makes intercession for him with groaning that cannot 
be uttered ; it is not he a beast that prays, but the holy Spirit of 
■God which is given to him and is in him ! 

Wicked man is so fond of his own ways, and thinks his own works 
of so much value, that they are shocked indeed when these works 
jare pronounced to be altogether vile and worthless : yet they do not 
scruple to believe that Christ's work and Righteousness is incom- 
plete and insufficient, requiring man's help, and of no avail, unless 
jnan lends a hand and does something also. This is to think highly 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 37 

of man, and lightly of God ! this is to exalt the man of sin above the 
Lord God Almighty. " What f'' say they, "ore we to sit still and 
do nothing 1 are we not to do good ? are we not to pray ? Does not 
God. say, seek and ye shall find 1 knock, pray, and that he will he en- 
quired after ? This (say they) shows that we have something to do, 
nothing can he plainer ! Therefore ive must vse means, it is our duty, 
it is the command of God, and therefore, after all, we have something 

to do r 

Thus our vile and proud hearts would fain turn the complete gra- 
tuitousness, the rich grace and glorious freeness of Christ's salvation, 
into terras and conditions; '•'■you must hunger, you must seek, it is your 
duty, that is the condition, that is the money to he paid : you must ask 
and pray, and then, if you do this, if you do this (see, you must do 
something) then, you shall be saved ! This is the doctrine of the Son 
of Perdition ! satisfied with their fleshly reasoning, they sit down 
pleased with the necessary conclusion, that after all, salvation does 
depend, in spite of every thing to the contrary, upon our doing some- 
thing ! What is the meaning of all this 1 why, nothing more than that 
we are too wicked, too proud and scornful, to receive Christ ! no ! 
we will not receive him freely ! we will buy him, we will pay some- 
thing, at all events, for his salvation ! something however paltry we 
will give, that it may not be entirely his salvation ; the very act of 
begging, the very acknowledgment that we want this salvation, shall 
be turned into a consideration, a money, for which, when we give it, 
we are to receive this Salvation ! And since God says that it shall 
be wanted by those who receive it, therefore we will make our very 
want and need of it, a condition, a cause, a money which produces 
it, so that it shall not be God's gratuitous gift ! This, all this, is 
what the heart says and feels, though the lips may not utter it, but 
may talk deceitfully of Free Grace and humility ! This is the doc- 
trine of the Son of Perdition who sells Christ for something, be it 
ever so little ; thus the Son of Perdition preaches and calls upon the 
proud and sensual, the haters of God and enemies of Christ, to pay 
down this their vile money ! " Their right hand is full of bribes,^^ 
they go to God with a bribe in their hand. 

This idea of doing something, only a little, yet however a some- 
thing ; and something for God, something for his Grace, something 
for his mercy, only proceeds from the most desperate and diabolical 
wickedness, from the most brutish ignorance, veiled under the appear- 
ance of the most virtuous intention. 

God, who hath made known his will, the law of all right to man, 
and hath shown that they should love one another, and give and lend 
to all who ask, without even expecting, much more without taking 
any thing in return — God ! who in his righteous law strictly forbids 
usury, the taking any thing in return, — does He expect, or will he 
take any return for the Grace of the Gospel ! ! Will He take re- 
ward 1 Will He be recompensed ? Does he require man to do any 
thing, any the least thing, any thing whatsoever for his Grace and 
goodness? No indeed! Nothing! Nothing! nothing whatever ! God 
will take no recompense ! (Joel, iii. 4). Woe unto them that recom* 



38 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

pense God ! God will not receive any prayers in the shape of bribe 
or payment or purchase, for his rich Grace and boundless, boundless 
mercy ! He gives ! he gives liberally and upbraideth not ! He gives 
not like man ! he gives freely, gratuitously, for nothing ! ! merely of 
his own will and pleasure ; only because he is good and gracious, 
only because He will ; and when he will ; and where he will ; and to 
whom he will ; and as he will ! He is God over ail. They to whom 
he will give, shall want, shall hunger, shall long after, and greatly 
desire and greatly value and beg for the Unspeakable Gift, which he 
has promised without exception to all the poor and needy, the hungry 
and the thirsty. But it is by the Holy Ghost which God gives, that 
they shall want and pray. 

It is great wisdom, it is having understanding to desire and cry 
out for this blessed salvation, and this very wisdom comes only from 
him, and is his gift, the prayer of the needy is the work of the Holy 
Spirit of God, which is good understanding and is in all them that 
really pray, whether they know it or not. 

No indeed ! God will not be recompensed ! he will give ; and he 
can receive nothing from man. The austere usurers of this day, 
who know not God, how good he is, how good and liberal beyond 
what even they who are round his throne can think or imagine, — 
they, wicked men, say they know he is just like themselves, an aus- 
tere man; yea! like them, reaping where he has not sown, and 
gathering where he has not strewed ; that is, expecting an evil help- 
less lost sinner to do some good : yea, like them, not giving but sell- 
ing ; like them, taking payment, and pretending that what they are 
paid for is a mighty liberality: like them ! Churls, harsh, unforgiv- 
ing, unkind, bigoted, selfish, greedy, covetous, haughty, proud, " thou 
thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself,^^ and they 
preach that God is a usurer like themselves! and therefore they are 
afiaid of the rich free liberal grace and bountifulness of the Gospel 
to sinners : they are afraid, they think there will be danger to 
*' Piety" if God's Righteousness is known; they are afraid, and they 
wrap up the talent of the Gospel, the one talent, even the little they 
know of it, they are afraid of it, and hide it, and gain no cities ; not 
a single city of God, no tabernacle which he inhabits is among 
them ; and while they preach usury they do not pay it ; but they ought 
surely themselves to pay God a little usury when they preach so 
much to their miserable hearers ! God in this parable (Matt. xxv. 
24 to 27) prophesied of and described the teachers and preachers of 
every age of the Christian era, and in the last of them he has de- 
scribed the doctrine of this last and wicked day ; and all, before ever 
there was yet a single man called a Christian on the earth ; before 
ever the Christian era had begun ! How they have blasphemed God, 
and how his Name is blasphemed among men through them, as it is 
written. No blasphemy could be so bad as that of representing God 
to be like unto corruptible man, usurious ! a violater of his own holy 
law ; exacting, wanting pay, harsh, unkind ! Yea, in all their furious 
exhortations to " do good" they blaspheme God ! They are an adul- 
terous generation (being married and bound to the law, and death 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 39 

and conviction for sin, and pretending to be married to Christ, while 
the first husband is yet alive, to whom also they deal falsely) they 
are a generation of vipers, abominable, fearful ; afraid of God's truth 
and goodness ! they are called dogs, (Philipps. iii. 2) for they neither 
eat themselves, nor will they suffer others to eat of the rich banquet 
of the Gospel : they snarl over the gift and will suffer none to ap- 
proach it ; they fawn and flatter and look kind and endearing in 
order to get, but they will not give : they bite and devour and fight 
with one another, and horrible madness is in their bite when they 
have arrived as they now have to the pitch of their delusions, going 
day and night busy and bustling and " doing good''' about the streets 
of the city, that great city, the city of confusion, perplexity and 
darkness, and contradiction and controversies, Babylon ; which is 
spiritually called Sodom and Egypt ; Sodom, because of its gross and 
abominable perversion of the plain truth ; Egypt, because of its glory 
and wealth, and refinement and learning, and darkness and Beast 
worship : a city in which our Lord has been crucified afresh, and put 
to an open shame ! (Rev. xi.) God knew them, the Son of Perdition, 
the bargainers and sellers and condition-makers, even them and all 
their thoughts before the foundation of the world ; and he ordained 
them to the just condemnation of their deeds which he has let them 
alone to do, and given them power to do, for a Time ; but this Time 
of the Beast, the reign of man and his doctrine, the man of sin, is 
about to end, it shall be no longer, saith the Lord, who liveth for 
ever and ever !* 

* The whole Time of the Abomination, or the Falling away (2 Thess. ii. 3) or 
Antichrist (1 John) or of the perilous times (Tim.) is 1260 years : as is expressly 
declared over and over again in the Scriptures, (Dan. viii. 14; Dan. xii. 11 ; Rev. xi. 
2,3; Rev. xii. 6,14.) 

It began in the midst of the first 700 years after the Roman Prince destroyed 
the city and the Sanctuary: this 700 years is called a week, during which week 
the Covenant of the Promise even the Gospel of God was confirmed of God with 
many, even with multitudes of Saints. (Dan. ix. 27.) In the midst of this week, 
the Abomination of the swine flesh offering of the sacrifice of human Righteous- 
ness, (which is not Righteousness) instead of the pure and spotless offering of the 
Lamb of God, was set up, and the latter, (the only true oblation strongly figured 
forth in the oblation under the first dispensation) was taken away; God himself 
took it away from the Earth, because they trampled the pearl under foot, (Matt, 
vii. 6.) 

During all this Time of Abomination, the glory of the Gospel has been dimmed, 
(the Sun has been darkened) but yet it has shone at some periods with some degree 
of light until this day, when the two witnesses are slain, having finished their tes- 
timony : (Rev. xi. 7.) Now the Beast, the man of Sin, the Son of Perdition has 
triumphed, and neither the Gospel nor the Law of God are preached, but lies and 
human works, and the Doctrine of the Son of Perdition instead of the Gospel, and 
foolish deeds of silly screaming piety and trifling observances and abstinences, in- 
stead of the law ; all is darkness, gross darkness over the Earth, (that is, the reli- 
gious world) and the Sea and the waves roar (that is, the irreligious world and its 
chiefs are insolent and audacious in their blasphemy): gross darkness covereth the 
people, and in the spiritual land of Egypt there is a darkness which can be felt. 
And now God in Christ will appear, and the Time shall be no longer. 



40 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

To believe only in Jesus Christ, and then afterwards to worh, is fall- 
ing from Grace ; it is after being washed to return to wallowing 
in the mire. 

It is only when a sinner believes, from and after he believes, that 
Christ doeth all for him, and he hath nothing to do : before he believes 
he has every thing to do, all Righteousness to do, and is cursed if he 
does not do it. 

God hath turned the earth (the religious world) upside down : it 
reels to and fro like a drunkard ; for they preach the very reverse 
(the upside down) of God's truth, saying that after a man believes 
then he has something to do ! then he has got to do good ! this is to 
frustrate the Grace of God : this is saying that before any one be- 
lieves there is Grace, (when there is not ; there is nothing but con- 
demnation to them that do not yet believe) but that when he believes 
then there is no grace, then he has got to do good, that is, to work 
Righteousness ! whereas then only there is Grace, then only there is 
no condemnation, because then only he has nothing whatever to do, 
and cannot have condemnation having nothing to be condemned for, 
then he is under Grace, and God will do all Righteousness in him 
and for him. 

The sinner believing, hath nothing now to do ; but he who does 
not yet believe has every thing to do ; and woe unto them who de- 
spise God's law, who do not obey it, who diminish aught from it, or 
add any thing to it, or put one jot or tittle of any thing instead 
of it ! 

If^ when a man has received the word, it may be with joy ; if he 
begins " to do," if he turn back to the law, and tries to do good, that 
is to obtain Righteousness ; then he has fallen from Grace, Christ 
will profit him nothing, he is under sin ! This is the falling away 
which has taken place ; they have fallen from Grace ; and for now 
nearly 1260 years have been seeking to " do good" that is to get 
Righteousness by following the law which is seeking Righteousness, 
and that is seeking to be justified by the law. (Gal. v. 4.) This is 
not the faith of God's elect, of those who endure to the end, this is 
the sinning wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth and 
despising Christ, even turning back from him to the law, and not 
deeming Christ able alone to save. " If any man turn back saith the 
Lord, my sovl shall have no pleasure in him.''"' Having believed, the 
sinner is still to believe, and not go back to the mud and mire of his 
working and doing; after he believes, he must believe (1 John, v. 13) 
yea, and stand fast in the faith, that is in believing and doing no- 
thing, only trusting to Christ, and continue in doing nothing only 
believing. Having ceased from all his works and doing nothing, but 
looking only to God to do all for him, he is to continue to cease from 
all his works, yea, to stand fast and be strong in doing nothing and 
not to fall away. This only is walking after the Spirit: to have some- 
thing to do is being after the flesh, and is death : to have God to do 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 41 

all for us is life and peace, because He alone truly does ; they that 
are after the flesh say and do not. 

Therefore before a man believes, he has all the law to fulfil, all 
good to do ; but after he believes in the name of the Son of God, con- 
tinuing only to believe, he has no good to do ! Blessed for ever 
blessed be God for his unspeakable gift of Righteousness by Jesus 
Christ ! Believe, and let Christ be all your Righteousness, and still 
believe, and let him only be your Righteousness, and then still only 
believe, and let God alone vi^ork Righteousness for you. And what 
then 1 Why then, go on to cease doing and working, to be altogether 
purged from all your works, and to rest, (not turning back again to 
the mire and mud of human righteousness,) and only believe. (1 John,, 
V. 13.) That is, in other words, receive his vast blessing and good- 
ness, and then still receive ; and what then ? why then go on still to 
receive, thanking him and praising Him for such unutterable good- 
ness ! There is always more to receive than we can have any idea 
of, the love, the Grace of Christ passeth knowledge, and the more a 
man ceaseth from himself and trusteth to Christ, the more still he 
will continue to know of the grace and power and righteousness of 
God, and of that peace which passeth all understanding. This is to 
grow in Grace, and to become stronger and stronger in *' the Grace 
that is in Christ Jesus,^^ it is becoming weaker and weaker in our- 
selves ! for, says the Apostle to this effect, when we are most weak 
then we are most strong ! " Let the weak say I am strong ^''^ saith the 
Prophet. 

The sinner who believes and casts all upon Christ, has nothing to 
fear : he need not be anxious, he need not use any effort or exertion, 
he must cease from all this, and forsake all hope in it, let him only 
turn his eyes to Christ, and the serpent's bite shall be cured, and the 
serpent shall bite him no more. He has found his enemies too 
strong for him while he tried to overcome them, but when he tries 
no longer and casts the burden entirely upon Christ, then (but never 
till then) he will find that Christ is the Power of God, and greater is 
Jesus Christ who is in him (1 John, 44) than he who is in the 
world. He will find that Christ is the Power of the Mighty God,, 
who created heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is. 
He who believes, will, standing still, behold this salvation from sin 
and the devil ; a little, if he has a little faith, and much if he has 
greater faith. But he who works and tries to do good, following the 
law as the rule of life (and indeed it is a rule of life, and woe to those 
who being bound by this holy rule, do not fully obey it in all things !) 
— he is under the law and under condemnation and under guilty-con- 
viction for sin ; he has no faith at all, no not the least, he knows (till 
now) nothing of it, all his talk and feelings and ecstacies of love and 
joy and glory, are fleshly puffings up and swellings of Satan, like 
the swelling produced by the bite of a serpent ; they are dreams 
filthy dreams, he is in bondage and death. And also, he who con- 
tinues the servant of unrighteousness, and is not translated from the 
power of Satan to the Kingdom of God, but loveth the world and the 
things that are in it, serving divers lusts, and wishing after houses or 
6 



42 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

money, or honour and respectability, he has not believed, for he is 
not saved, and it is impossible to look to Christ and not to be saved. 
Christ came on purpose to save his people from — their sins, which 
are death and curse and present torment and everlasting destruction. 
He who does not wish to be saved from every sin, does not believe, 
for to believe in Christ is to wish to be saved from sin and to be filled 
with Righteousness, and to trust to him alone for all this. 

As in the wilderness those among the dying people who did not 
recover and live were only those who would not turn their eyes upon 
the brazen serpent which Moses lifted up, so they who look not to 
him who has taken upon himself the form of sinful man, they are not 
saved. But as then, whosoever merely looked at it, were healed, 
without their stirring a step, or so much as moving the little finger, 
so now, whosoever lying in the death of sin, only looks to him, he is 
and shall ever be completely saved from that horrible death. There- 
fore, if a man says he believes in Christ, and continues to serve 
divers lusts, or any one lust, he is a liar ; he hath not looked to 
Him, nor believed in him. A servant of sin is under the law, though 
he may profess to be free from it ; its curse and condemnation is 
upon him. When we are led by the Spirit (that is, submit to God 
and have Him to work and do all for us) then only w^e are not under 
the law; not when we say we are not under it. (Gal. v. IW.) The 
Gospel of Christ is not m word, but in power : not in saying, but in 
doing : not in what man says, but in what God does. None who are 
in Christ are in the kingdom of Satan, they are under grace, in the 
kingdom of heaven, from whence Christ has cast out Satan. There- 
fore, let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from all 
iniquity. Now, he who believes, will do this, not by doing any thing 
whatever himself, God forbid ! but by standing still, believing and 
trusting in Christ ; He is faithful, and such an one, whatever he be, 
shall behold the salvation of God ! 

When it is said that the Lord Jesus Christ takes all the doing 
upon himself, and the sinner hath to stand still believing only ; it is 
true ; for he verily is The Christ ; he is the King of Israel, and 
fights all their battles for his people, and goeth in and out before 
them and leadeth them : he came for this very purpose, — to save ! 
entirely, completely and perfectly, himself, to save us ! and if he 
who believes in this glorious King and Saviour has still got this 
work or any of this work to do, then it is evident he hath come in 
vain, for that part which the sinner had to do, if he had any thing to 
do, would never be done ! But let it not be supposed that He is like 
unto fleshly man and has any difficulty or hard work to perform : far 
from it ! He is Righteousness himself, all is done in him ! That 
which we have found painful, difficult, irksome and impossible, is not 
a difficulty to Him. He is Lord over all ! all obey him ; he is the 
Power of God, and that is Almighty : not a word, not a thought, not 
a man nor a devil can stir or move or exist, but at his pleasure ! He 
seeth, thousands of years before men are born, the thoughts they 
will think, those which, out of their much evil, he will give them 
liberty to think and imagine : he hath revealed the very thoughts of 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 43 

this evil generation ages before. He is the Mighty God, by him all 
things subsist, by him all things were made which are made ! All 
that is required therefore to have and to know this glorious salvation, 
is faith only to believe, that is, only to want it and take it ! " Who- 
soever wishes (or will) let him take of the ivaters of life freely /" 
" Let him that is athirst come.'''* 

How different is this Gospel of God from that false gospel which 
the serpent preaches, viz. " if YOU do this thing, and if YOU do 
that thing, you will go to heaven ; or rather you may possibly go 
there, you may even " trusf that you will get there I and after all, it 
is very doubtful, unless you (who are evil) fail not to do a great deal 
of goody Woe unto them ! Woe ! Woe unto them ! for whereas 
they will not enter into the kingdom of heaven themselves, neither 
will they suffer those that are entering in to go there ! And yet, 
preaching such abomination as this they dare to talk of " free Grace" 
and the " dear Redeemer !" Well hath God called them the Son of 
Perdition ! 



CHAPTER IX. 

Christ is the Sabbath. 

Christ is spoken of in the Scriptures as the day, the day of the 
Lord ; because he is the Light, out of him all is night and darkness. 
He is the Day of Rest, the Sabbath of God, because he is the Rest. 

The law testifies of him and preaches what this book contains, viz. 
only believe, rest and do nothing, saying " Remember that thou keep 
holy the Sabbath day,''"' that is, profane it not by doing any of thy 
works. " The seventh day is the Sabbath, (the Rest) of the Lord 
thy God, in it thou shalt do no manner ofwork.^^ Because this day, 
a figure and shadow of Christ, was God's rest, in this day was his 
joy and he hallowed it, and would not have it to be profaned by any 
manner of work of evil man. That is, in Christ is his delight, in 
him he is well pleased, in Him they who believe do rest from all 
their works, and are blessed ; they are blessed in him the seed of 
Abraham. David speaking by the Spirit of Christ, says " This is the 
Day which the Lord hath made, u)e will be glad and rejoice i?i it,^^ 
The Prophet Isaiah speaking of the Sabbath expressly shows that it 
is not a day of the week, but it is Him, viz. Christ, of whom the 
Sabbath is a shadow, a pattern given to Moses of things then in 
heaven. (Is. Iviii. 13.) Believing in Christ the day of Rest, we enter 
into rest, and have no works to do, we only keep the Sabbath, we 
only believe in Christ by doing nothing. Nothing can be plainer 
than this Truth, we who believe have Rest, we have nothing to do, 
and must do nothing ! 

Christ himself says of himself, " Come unto me all ye that are 
weary and heavy laden, and''"' — not I will tell you to do something, 

but " I will give you Rest,''"' that is, I will do all things for you., 

you shall have nothing to do. Since man is only evil, and that cour 
tinually, what a blessed and glorious and gracious gospel this js for 



44 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

such a miserable creature, viz. that he has not got any good to do ! 
His sin and his curse is, that he does not do good, the good news is, 
that he has not got it to do, Jesus Christ does it all for him. By the 
law a man has to do good, and he who does good, that is Righteous- 
ness, really, truly, and at all times, he shall save his soul alive, he 
himself is a Saviour : but, by the Gospel of Grace, he who receives 
this Gospel has nothing to do, for Christ in his love and pity does 
all, he saves, and he is the Saviour. The law tells what good is, and 
what must be done, but that is all, it leaves you to do it, and you 
must do it or suffer all its penalty, else it is no law at all, it is a lie. 
But Christ himself does all the work for them that believe, he leaves 
them nothing to do, he does it, or else it would be no Grace at all, it 
would be a law, if there was any work at all to do. (Rs. xi. 6.) Thus 
all that the law says the Gospel does, and thus God honours and 
establishes the law by Jesus Christ. They who follow the law, say 
and do not ; they who believe only and do nothing they do every 
thing and fulfil the law, that is by Christ, who does all for them, and 
imputes it all to them. Since under the law it is man who has to 
do, and he does not do it, it is called the weakness of man ; but since 
under Grace, it is God who does all, the Gospel is called what it 
truly is, " the Power of God. ''^ 

Not only he who believes has nothing to do, but he must do no- 
thing. It is not left to the sinner, that if he chooses he has got 
nothing to do, it is imperative, it is the fixed declaration of God, they 
who will do their own works, who pollute his holy Sabbath, who de- 
spise his Christ by mixing up their works with his works, their filthy 
Righteousness with his glorious Righteousness, they cannot be saved. 
Here is faith, not doing any thing, not seeking to do the least thing 
whatsoever, but forsaking it all and trusting entirely to God : then, 
that God does all for us, leaving us nothing to do, this is His Grace 
and love ! The Sabbath is a shadow of Christ, and God would not 
have the shadow despised, how much less therefore will he suffer the 
very substance to be despised ? It is to despise Christ and his 
Grace not to cease entirely from our work ; to look to him for 
Righteousness, while we are trying to do Righteousness ourselves, is 
to declare by facts that we do not hope in his Righteousness alone, 
nor think it quite sufficient. Therefore he who says " do good" and 
professes to follow Christ at the same time is an infidel, a despiser of 
Christ in whom he does not believe, and a despiser of the law which 
he does not obey fully. If therefore a man preach all the doctrines 
of the Gospel and afterwards add " now you must do good,^^ he 
preaches not Christ, he preaches not the Gospel, he despises, mocks 
and dishonours Christ and God, he is an infidel and not a believer. 
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, and it is better for those 
who know nothing of the truth, and never heard of Christ, than for 
those who have heard and known and been washed, and then despised 
him, and returned to wallow in the mire and filth of their own righte- 
ousness, which is not righteousness, but is an abomination. He that 
despised Moses' law perished without mercy ; much less is there 
mercy for those who despise Christ and honour their own Righteous- 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 45 

ness or piety. If a man but picked up a few sticks on the Sabbath, 
he was to be stoned, for he profaned and polluted and despised the 
Sabbath, the shadow of Christ, the Rest of God. So also, if a man 
do but add one jot or tittle of his work to Christ's work, he despises, 
he dishonours Christ, and therefore " of how much sorer punishment 
shall he be thought worthy ?" Nay let his works appear to man to 
be most excellent and pure and pious, they are an abomination, an 
utter abom.ination before God, they are an offering of swine's flesh, 
and he, though ever so much like a lamb, is an enemy, a despiser of 
Christ, though as the Son of Perdition also did, he may pretend to 
love him, and kiss him ! God is not mocked ! " Behold, ye despisers, 
and wonder and perish ; I hrins; near My Righteousness /" It will 
not do to give some honour to Christ : partly to trust, partly to be- 
lieve, is not to trust nor believe at all : partly to keep the Sabbath, 
and partly to be busy at work, is not to honour this glorious Rest of 
God ! A little leaven, be it ever so little, leaveneth the whole 
lump ! 

What shall we say then of those religious despisers of Christ and 
admirers of the piety of man, sinful man, who preach a little grace 
and a great deal of doing ; who tell the sinner that he must try and 
use means and do some of their little pious actions, and then, yes 
then, if they do it with great humility and devotedness, then God 
will assist them with his Grace ! then, on paying very carefully this 
vile money, they will have the assistance of the Holy Ghost ! " Thy 
money perish icith thee, who hast thought that the gift of God could 
be purchased /" Thus they blasphemously teach that God is not 
good except dependently, that is, only if man first shows himself 
good ! but if this beast does not first put forth his goodness, then 
God is not good, then there is no grace ! So that God's goodness 
and Power and Grace and Salvation depend entirely upon vile and 
filthy and impotent man ! Yea ! it is a bargain and sale ; they go 
forth on the 'black horse of fleshly pride and strength, with the pair 
of balances in their hands, and preach if man will give something 
then God will give something ! and they pretend to hide their wick- 
edness and to appear to honour God by saying what a great deal he 
will give, and how good it is of him to sell so much for so little ! 
They (the generation of the religious of this day) are called the Son 
of Perdition ! (2 Thess. ii. 3.) And how justly and appropriately ! this 
one name is itself a full and complete description ! they bargain for 
and sell Christ ! they follow him and pretend to love him ! they call 
him the Dear Redeemer and kiss him ! while they sell him ! they 
are also like him a covetous generation and greedy money-gatherers f 
Do they imagine that God is like unto them ? that he knoweth not, 
and regardeth not 1 Yea ! He knew them and their thoughts long 
before, and has by his holy apostles and prophets declared and writ- 
ten down all their works and their triumph, and their glory which 
they should exhibit in these last days ! 



46 THE GOSPEL OP GOD. 

CHAPTER X. 

The Everlasting Covenant, and The Blessing, in the seed of Abraham. 

God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham, and established 
it for ever by an oath. In this covenant he promised that in the 
seed of Abraham, in One who should spring from his loins, nations 
and people of all the earth should be blessed. Therefore he called 
Abraham a father of many nations, even of all that should be blessed 
in Christ the seed of Abraham. 

Here was a covenant in which God undertook to do himself every 
thing that was in the covenant, and that was, to bless ! It was a 
Promise which God made, that he would bless Abraham and many 
others, and he confirmed it by an oath for an everlasting covenant 
which should never be broken. After this everlasting covenant, 
another was made at Horeb, when Moses gave the fiery law, and in 
this second covenant, which was neither confirmed by oath, nor called 
Everlasting, it was man who had to perform every thing. God's 
covenant was a Promise, " I will be your God, I will bless you." 
The covenant which Moses made with the people was, " We will 
obey and be thy people." This covenant was broken the moment it 
was made, and a broken covenant is not an everlasting covenant. 

God's covenant cannot be broken, because in it, God alone and by 
himself has undertaken to perform, and has promised that he will. 
No blessing has ever been found from the covenant of Mount Sinai, 
for all have violated that law and broken that covenant. God would 
show by this, that having violated the covenant in which we are per- 
formers, we must look for a Blessing only from the covenant in 
which he alone is the performer : we must expect every thing from 
Him, and nothing from ourselves ; we must hope all from his Ever- 
lasting covenant and Promise, and hope nothing in our broken cove- 
nant and in our doings and duties. 

It was fit that God having undertaken and promised to bless all the 
children of Abraham (and they are of all people and nations, for he 
was named the father of many nations) and having promised to bless 
all these children of faithful Abraham not in the law, nor on account 
of any thing they should do, (for in this His covenant there is 
nothing which they have to do) but in Christ who should be of the 

seed of Abraham, it was fit that God having alone undertaken to 

do all that was to be done in this Everlasting covenant, should teach 
us by another covenant that there is no hope at all but in his per- 
formance, that so our hope and trust might be in God altogether and 
not in man ! It was fit that, in order to know God's Power and love 
we should learn and know our own impotency and our exceeding sin- 
fulness : and this we could only learn and know by facts ! by being 
tried under the covenant of the law. Therefore God gave the law, 
not to supersede or set aside the Everlasting covenant, but to confirm 
and establish it, and to lead us to it, and bring us into it, by showing 
our need of it, and that we are lost, without it, by making us to 
know that the covenant in which man has got something to do, 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 47 

brings a curse, and it is only the Everlasting covenant in which God 
himself performs all things for us, which brings a blessing ! to show 
that we having nothing to perform, do not do it, and are sinners ; 
and to show that God alone is good, God alone performs, God alone 
blesses, and we must look to him for every thing and turn away 
from our own works which bring death and a curse ! 

Such knowledge and understanding God teaches his people out of 
his law, and then when they have understanding, they will believe in 
God. This is not man's gross and proud understanding, it is the 
very Spirit of God himself; " the Lord giveth ivisdom, out of his 
jiionth Cometh hnoicledge and understanding,''^ 

Therefore the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the lamb slain before the 
foundation of the world, that in Him alone we have Righteousness 
and strength, in Him we live to God and walk with God and are 
filled with blessing, and rest in Him, and have no works to do, but 
he, Jesus Christ, fills us and clothes us with Righteousness, this Gos- 
pel of the Grace of God, that he who only trusteth to God, doing 
nothing whatsoever, shall be saved, — this Gospel which this little 
Book opens, and preaches, this, yea This, is the Everlasting covenant 
itself which God made with Abraham. 

The Blessing which God promised to Abraham, and to many 
nations and people of whom he is called the father, was a Blessing 
only to be had in the seed of Abraham, that is, in Jesus Christ, who 
was born of the stock of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah. And it is- 
in Christ, in Him the Holy One of God, and only in him, that we 
are blessed. And what is this Blessing which God promised to 
Abraham and his spiritual children, in Him Jesus Christ, the seed of 
Abraham ? It is Righteousness, and that includes every blessing. 
It is perfect Righteousness, even the Righteousness of God, which 
we are made to be, in Him. Perfect Righteousness is given to us 
in him, by the infinite grace and mercy of God towards us ; given to 
us freely, according to the multitude of his tender mercies towards 
us, for he knew us and loved us who believe and all who shall be- 
lieve, before the world began. It is Righteousness so perfect and 
complete that nothing can be added to it, and it is the utmost wick- 
edness to think to add to or to help, or to increase the Righteousness 
of God ! There is no want of any other Righteousness, there is 
nothing whatever for us to do, to add to this Righteousness, we are 
delivered from every necessity of this kind, we have nothing to do, 
who believe, we are filled with Righteousness who hunger after it. 
Nor is it a momentary Righteousness imputed once only, it is an 
Everlasting Righteousness which shall not be abolished (Is. li. 5), 
imputed unto us who believe, continually, unceasingly, and for ever : 
it is an acting Righteousness, it is the life and Power of God, it is 
Christ the Righteousness of God, in whom we are and he in us, by 
whom we are redeemed from under the law, and have nothing to do I 
No blessing so great could ever have been imagined by man, as 
this, which they who believe, do have and possess in Jesus Christ 
the seed of Abraham, the Son of David. It is of all Blessings that 
can possibly be cpnceived of, the only one which really and truly is 



48 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

a blessing. For, let one be ever so blessed, yea, let him be in heaven 
itself as the angels were who fell, or let him be in Paradise, as Adain 
was who fell, let him have all and every other possible blessing, yet, 
if he is under the law and has got any thing to do, he will fall also, 
he will certainly come under a curse by not doing what he bas got to 
do, if he has any thing whatever to do ; because certainly he will not 
and cannot do it, for there is no good, no Righteousness, no Holi- 
ness, no Power, no Wisdom, in Heaven nor in Earth, nor in the 
Heaven of Heavens, except in and from God only ! 

What a vast and large Blessing then is this which we have in 
Jesus the Christ, this gift of Righteousness in him ! What a Bless- 
ing to have Him for " OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS," him to do all, 
we to have nothing to do ! and to know that because He lives we 
live, and shall never perish ! Such a Blessing given freely that is 
gratuitously to us in Christ Jesus by the Everlasting Mercy and 
Love of the living God, by his great grace and good will and good 
pleasure, is so large, so great, so rich, so vast, so extensive, so mag- 
nificent and liberal that none but God only, kind and good beyond 
understanding, none but Love immense and immeasurable could de- 
vise and accomplish it ! It is precisely that Blessing which only 
really is a blessing, nothing short of this would be an equal blessing 
to the sinner. It is perfect deliverance, perfect salvation, perfect 
security, perfect pardon, perfect Righteousness, everlasting Rest, — 
and all in Christ ! all done by him ! all received in him the seed of 
Abraham ! How true and how faithful God's Word is proved to be ! 
When he made promise to Abraham that in One of his seed those 
who believe should be blessed, no one could have conceived or 
imagined how completely and most abundantly he would perform the 
Word which he had spoken ! 

There are none but the very poor and needy who will hunger after 
and gladly receive, who will take this Blessing this Water of life 
freely ; God has foreknown them, and loved them, and chosen them, 
and ordained them to eternal life : they, whoever they are, have 
been taught by the Spirit of God out of the law, how very vain, yea 
how beastly all their best looking and most pious works are, and that 
there is no hope but in God alone, to whom only we must look for 
Righteousness and the works of Righteousness which cannot be by 
us, but are only by Christ Jesus ! 

Such is the Everlasting covenant, and such is the Blessing of 
which it is a sure Promise ! This covenant God made with Abra- 
ham ; he remembers it at all times for us and therefore we are not 
consumed. In remembrance of this covenant he blessed his people 
Israel at all times, because he beheld them in Christ, and " was icell 
pleased for his righteousness'' suke.^' 

As the law which was given by Moses did not set aside this 
covenant, but by its dreadful teaching went to establish and confirm 
it, and as there is no blessing, but a curse in the violated covenant 
of Sinai, therefore when God delivered the law to Moses, he did not 
leave his people under the law to have hope in their own obedience 
and Righteousness, for then none of the saints of old could possibly 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 49 

have been saved ; because the curse of the law is upon all who do 
not perfectly fulfil it, else it would be no law at all, if any who had it 
to obey could escape the punishment of disobedience. While they 
had the law to make known the perfection of Righteousness and the 
exceeding sinfulness of sin, God showed them plainly that Righte- 
ousness was not obtained by man's doing, but by faith only, and was 
not performed by any man, but only by the Spirit of God. They 
never sought to be accepted for obeying the law and doing good, and 
therefore they never appeared before God in the Righteousness of 
the law, but only in the blood of the sacrifice ; they came unto God 
by the High Priest, the anointed, that is, the Christ, and not by the 
law ; they offered unto God sacrifices which he had prepared for 
them, and not good deeds or Righteousness which they had done. 
When they touched the sin offering they were sanctified, not when 
they tried to obey the law, or to do good : when they were sprinkled 
with blood they were clean, not when they were strict observers of 
the law. God showed plainly by all this, that it is only in the sacri- 
fice of the anointed, that is of Jesus Christ, that he accepts any 
man. He showed that in him alone he is well pleased, that by him 
alone the law is fulfilled (for how could God be pleased except the 
law was fulfilled) and not by the obedience of man. Therefore, 
while they had the Law by which is the knowledge of sin, it was 
plainly shown by the sin offerings and shedding of blood, that salva- 
tion from sin and acceptance with God is only in Christ : thus they 
were not saved by doing any good at all, but only by Grace. If they 
could have done good and work Righteousness and please God by 
trying to obey the law, then all the shedding of blood, the sacrifices, 
and the office of the High Priest were vain and useless : so also if 
Righteousness (that is, doing good, and by consequence, pleasing 
God) can come by the Law, then Christ's death is vain and useless. 
Gal. ii. 21.) The sacrifice of the sin offering showed the sacrifice of 
Christ, which he should offer in the appointed time ; their sins being 
laid upon it, showed that it is Christ who taketh away our sins ; its 
death showed the death of Christ, and its destruction and burning 
showed the entire destruction of the body of sin and death, which 
should be triumphantly accomplished by the Holy One. Therefore 
Christ must needs suffer, to take away the sins of his people : and 
he must needs be man, that he might suffer for man and as man, and 
that the law might be obeyed by man. He must needs come in 
obscurity and humiliation, for how could he have suffered death, if 
he had come in the splendour and brightness of his glory and power ? 
or how then would the wicked have had free course and unrestrained 
opportunity and liberty to reject and despise him, if they would ; or 
to receive and acknowledge him, if they would? He must needs be 
put to death by wicked men, for what good men would hurt or put 
any man to death 1 Therefore he came on the earth, a man, and 
placed himself in the situation of the lowliest and humblest of that 
lost and wretched race ! and he came at a time when there had arisen 
a generation exceedingly wicked, proud and self-conceited : who 
thought themselves exceedingly holy ; men who regarded not the sin 
7 



50 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

ofTering and its signification, but who were satisfied that they were 
righteous in their austere and pious observance of" the law ; men who 
thought that they did good ; even the same generation which is now 
on the earth and is not yet passed away. (Mat. 24, ult.) 

To this generation God delivered up his beloved his only begotten 
son, that they might do unto him as they listed, and as he had fore- 
determined to leave them alone to do. And this righteous, holy and 
spotless One, submitted himself to their bloody hands and offered 
himself up as a sacrifice, the lamb of God, for a people, an ungodly 
and wicked people, whom God in his great mercy had chosen and 
before ordained to bless in him, out of every kindred and nation and 
people. Their transgressions he bore, knowing and seeing every 
one of them ; and he suffered all the curse and death and agony of 
the terrible law which by right belonged to this people ; " he died for 
the ungodly^'''' he was cursed instead of them, and the law was proved 
(when even such a Holy One could not escape) to be no lie, but a 
truth, as assuredly it must and will be fully proved to be to all that 
do wrong, and do not turn with repentance and entreaties to Him 
who freely forgiveth. Thus God (letting them alone to do as they 
pleased, and as he knew before the foundation of the world they 
would do when he should let them alone) made use of Satan and his 
children to accomplish, by their very wickedness, the destruction of 
wickedness, and the entire removal of sin from them whom he has 
chosen to be tabernacles in whom he will dwell ; and so He will be 
glorified by the very existence of evil creatures, yea, and by their 
vilest deeds. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Be ye steadfast, immoveable, in believing and doing nothing : always 
abounding in the ivork of God, always ceasing from your own work. 

The whole Gospel of God is plainly, emphatically and unequivo- 
cally revealed in these words, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved.''"' It says nothing about doing, and instead 
of implying it, it altogether excludes it, it is a true word, a faithful 
saying. 

The Scripture could not be plainer, when in answer to the ques- 
tion " what shall I do ?" it says " Believe,''"' and it is plain that to 
believe is not to do. If there were the least atom to be done by the 
sinner, he could not possibly be saved, for it never would be done. 
All that is written herein, is not because the word of God is at all 
doubtful, or not plain enough, or wanted proof, it wants no such thing : 
this is written for the elect's sake, that they may be saved. 

Jesus Christ does all for them that believe only, he does all Right- 
eousness for and instead of them, so that they cannot possibly have 
the least thing to do ; and this, which is his Righteousness and his 
doing entirely, he imputes graciously unto them. It is indeed won- 
derful that God should do so much, and leave us nothing whatever to 



I 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 5l 

do, thus saving us ! But it is not so great nor so wonderful by far, 
as that God should deliver up his own righteous and sinless son and 
not spare him, for our sakes, for the ungodly ! He who did this 
great thing, how much more shall he not do a less thing, that is, 
" iDith him, also freely give us all things ?" And yet they who scoff 
(Peter) and will not believe the lesser grace, pretend to believe and 
teach the greater ! ! God so loved the world, the elect world (not 
that of which he says " / pray not for,^' and which he says cannot 
receive the spirit) ; God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
begotten Son ! This, this is the great thing which God has done for 
his Israel, which surpasses every thing, which is greater than all, 
and which includes and brings with it every thing. He gave his re- 
deemed people to Christ, before the world began, and he gave Christ 
to his people ; they are one. The Father loveth you (saith Christ) 
as he loveth me, and he loved me before the foundation of the 
world. 

This is why any one is saved, even because, and only because the 
Lord God will save him ! It is only the Will and good pleasure of God 
(Eph.), for there does not exist in any human being one single reason 
why God should have mercy upon him ! whereas there exist in all, 
thousands of crying reasons why they should perish and be consumed. 
But he will certainly save his people whom he hath chosen, even all 
those, whoever they be, who seek him, who hope in his mercy : he 
hath sworn and will not repent, therefore all the poor and needy, 
however sinful and miserable, may be fully assured, and have strong 
consolation, even all may, who flee for refuge to Jesus Christ, (Heb.) 
God hath foreknown all such, they are elect of God, He hath given 
them to Christ, He will save them by his Gospel, giving to them to 
hear and believe, and then they that are dead shall live ! This is 
salvation, to hear and believe the Gospel. He that doth not believe 
in Jesus Christ cannot possibly be saved; there is no Righteousness, 
no life without him, and without him no man can have peace with 
God. " All that the Father hath given unto me, shall come unto 
me," and the Lord adds, " whosoever cometh unto me," — yea, who- 
soever he be, he need not stop to enquire if he is elect or not, he 
cannot but know if he indeed hungers after the Righteousness of God 
and that alone and none other — " whosoever cometh unto me," let 
him be ever so ungodly, ever so unlikely — " I will in no wise (IN 
NO WISE) CAST OUT." Here is consolation for the poor and ungodly, 
(but none for the rich, the righteous and the pious, unless they for- 
sake their righteousness and piety and hope only in God !) Herein is 
mercy ! it is in mere mercy and favour and loving kindness, not now 
only, but from everlasting, that he receives and saves us, and not for 
our being pious and religious ! far from it. 

This is the mercy of God in Christ, this is all the hope of him 
who writes this ; and this was ail the hope of David and the prophets, 
they never dreamed of being saved by religion or piety ; thus David 
says, ^^ I will hope in the mercy of God for ever and ever.''"' And 
this hope in the great goodness and grace and mercy of God in 
Christ Jesus, (without any hope or trust whatever in the beast, the 



52 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

flesh), this hope, though heaven and earth pass away, shall never be 
disappointed, and shall never pass away ! 

Herein is the salvation of God, viz. that he will have mercy ! He 
is ever merciful and gracious, and none that hope in his mercy shall 
perish ; he delighteth in them that hope in his mercy ; and all on 
whom he has mercy now, he had mercy on them yesterday, and has 
for ever, he hath not changed ; and when they look to him and hope 
in his mercy, then they shall know that his goodness to th^,m now is 
his everlasting goodness, and that in his everlasting mercy he hath 
given them understanding and led them to hope in Him ! No one 
who is disobedient to his law and word, who loveth unrighteousness 
and doth not look to Christ for Righteousness and deliverance from 
death and sin can know this, for the wicked (that is, they who do 
something and look not to Christ to do all for them) have no peace 
with God. (Ish.) They cannot know God, nor his mercy, nor his 
love, nor have access to him ; only the cleansed, the justified, the 
righteous, they who, believing, are in Christ, can know God and 
approach unto him ; the condemned (all who are under the law and 
don't fulfil all its Righteousness) cannot know God ! but they who 
believe will know him, because to them there is no condemnation, they 
are righteous, perfectly righteous in Christ, being made righteous by 
the mercy of God through faith. 

God has mercy ! this is the origin and beginning, and he hath 
chosen them on whom he will have mercy, and loved them from ever- 
lasting : and Christ is the way, he is the means, and the only way, 
and the only possible means by which the great work and purpose of 
present and everlasting mercy is made effectual and is accomplished ! 
He himself it is who accomplishes in all things, from first to last, this 
purpose of love and mercy and pity, bringing salvation, having done 
and doing all things for us, plucking his people out of the very fire, 
and making them righteous, and after all this, constantly keeping 
them by his power ! (Peter.) Even after they are made righteous, 
that is, after they believe and are justified, they are scarcely saved ! 
that is, they are saved with great pains and difficulty ; the presence 
and power and might of God alone, can alone keep and secure them ! 
Such is the rage and such the tremendous power of Satan, which he 
has got for a season, a short season (Rev. 12), and such also is the 
deceitfulness of sin, such is the power of this world, such is the weak- 
ness of the flesh, such the corruption of the body of sin and death, 
that they, the redeemed, the justified, the righteous, the holy nation, 
the chosen generation, are indeed scarcely saved ! But for ever 
blessed be God, he hath undertaken and he hath promised, and con- 
firmed his Promise by an oath, that none shall be able to pluck them 
out of his hand, though they go through much tribulation, and are 
chastened sore (for it needs be so) as the children of God ! They 
are only safe when they believe and do nothing, trusting only to God : 
their strength is to sit still, " this is the victory which overcometh 
the world, even our faith," even leaving all the work to the Lord 
Christ and of course then doing nothing ourselves. 

The word of God was written for our instruction, a notable figure 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 53 

of a child of God, living by faith, doing nothing. It is Daniel in the 
den of lions. The lions are figures of this present evil world, and of 
the raging and powerful lusts of the flesh, and threatening trials and 
temptations of all kinds. We can no more overcome these, than 
Daniel could master the lions. The power and glory and mercy of 
God in overcoming them all, for them that trust in him, and only be- 
lieve (for only believing, doing nothing, that alone i|s really believing) 
the power and glory of God is manifest in Daniel, and he who be- 
lieves is, like Daniel, preserved by the power and favour of God, from 
all their rage and destructions ! It is not Daniel who has silenced 
the lions ; no, it is God ! It is not Daniel who has shut their mouths 
— it is God ! and they are lions still, though they are quiet, they are 
not converted into lambs, nor regenerated, nor progressing towards 
personal holiness and sanctification : they are ravenous and dangerous 
beasts, and continue so. Again, Daniel does nothing to them, they 
are stronger than him, (Ps.) he has not conquered them, he has not 
subdued them, he has been sitting still and has not tried to subdue 
them ! Why then are they not tearing him to pieces 1 why do they 
not devour him ? How is he so safe ? — It is because Daniel sits still 
and trusts to God ; to him he looks, to his power and grace ! he 
believes in Him, and God, even God himself and alone has overcome 
them ! he believes, he only believes, and God performs all the work 
for Daniel ! Mark then, sinner, elect, saved soul, it is God who per- 
forms all things for Daniel, and for you also, if you believe in him 
whom God hath raised from the dead even in Jesus Christ ! that is, 
if you only trust to him, sitting still like Daniel and doing nothing ! 

The Holy Ghost here shows forth the glory of that salvation which 
is in Christ Jesus, how it is He who saves his people from their sins, 
and that the child of God has not got any thing to do, Christ does 
all for him. Like Daniel he cannot overcome the raging lions which 
his soul is among, he cannot overcome one single lust, nor subdue a 
single iniquity : how can Iniquity overcome iniquity 1 if he sets to 
work and tries to do the work of Christ, even to do something, it is 
plain he does not look to Christ to be saved, he does not believe. 
But when he believes and ceases from his own works, his proud and 
wicked works, when he does nothing and trusts entirely to Jesus 
Christ, then Christ stops the mouths of the lions, and then he per- 
forms all things for him ! Here is the power of Christ, here is his 
Grace, here is the glory of the Gospel, the Power of God ! if it were 
otherwise the Gospel would not be the power of God ! Here it is seen 
how God alone is glorified, for God alone performs the whole work, 
the sinner absolutely does nothing ! he has absolutely nothing to do, 
he only believes and trusts entirely to God, giving him credit both 
for power and grace, thereby confessing that he is God indeed ! If 
there is any thing shocking to man, revolting, hateful and detestable 
to him, it is this holy, eternal and sure Word of Truth, namely, that 
God he is God alone ! He, manifest in Christ Jesus, truly and verily 
is the only Saviour, the Christ ! He saves, and he only, and the 
believer has nothing, nothing, nothing whatever to do ! let him only 
trust to God ! Therefore sweet as this little book will be to them 



54 THE GOSPEL OF GODl 

who receive it and eat it up, they will find it bitter indeed, yea, very 
bitter to the flesh, the belly ; for the world will not endure the Truth, 
nor them who believe the Truth ! 

Let him who believeth in Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith, 
remember that he lives only by faith, looking only unto Jesus, and 
if he looks away, if he looks elsewhere, if he begin to imagine that 
his wonderful deliverance is partly because he himself does some- 
thing, or thinks or feels something, if he forget whose mercy it is 
that delivers him and overcomes the lions, that it is merely in his 
Grace and love that he does so great a favour for him, then he will 
quickly find out, and it is time he should, that the lions are there, 
and are violent and raging and ungovernable and unaltered, and that 
destruction and misery reign when they prevail ! Therefore let him 
take heed, let him beware ! All the cautions and instructions and 
reproofs and counsels of the Scripture aie necessary for him, and are 
given for this very purpose, that the man of God (that is, he who is 
in Christ,) may be wise unto salvation ; lest he should be wise in his 
own conceit and lay aside his confidence in the Lord, and begin to 
take confidence in the flesh ; lest he should forget the dangers and 
snares which surround him, and that Satan goeth about like a roar- 
ing lion, lest he should fall from the steadfastness of the faith, from 
the simplicity that is in Christ, and instead of sitting still and doing 
nothing, and only looking to Christ, he should be seduced to trust in 
his own strength, and begin to dream of other righteousness and 
other power and other work than that of Christ ! lest he should dis- 
honour God by not believing, and honour himself by his imaginary 
working : therefore, be ye steadfast and immoveable in believing, in 
only believing ; in doing nothing, but in trusting entirely to God, in 
standing still to behold the salvation of God, and then, yea, then you 
shall always abound in the work of God, for he will work abundantly 
for you, performing all things for you ! 



CHAPTER XIL 

Little Children^ flee from Idolatry. 1 John. 

God, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were 
dead in trespasses and sins, doth make us alive, giving to us to be- 
lieve in his Name ; for that is to be quickened and to live, even to 
believe ; that is being born of God, the being made to hear and be- 
lieve by the Mighty Voice or Word of God. " Faith cometh by 
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God,''^ even by that same 
Word by which all things were made that are made ! he that only 
and simply believes, is born ; and he is born of the Word. " Who- 
soever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God.^^ (1 John v. i.) 
" Being born again by the Word of God (not by a dead letter) which 
liveth and abideth for ever.'' (1 Peter i. 23.) Thus because to believe 
is to enter into life, even into Christ, it is most fitly signified in the 
Scriptures by the expression " being born." God calls us by his 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 55 

Mighty Voice, and the dead hear and live ! It is only his Power, it is only 
his work, " the voice of the Lord is mighty.'''' As by his word he cre- 
ated all things, and it was his doing and not any doing in the things 
which were created when he spake to them, so also by his word he 
raises the dead, and they hear and believe ; this also is alone his 
doing and not any doing in them, even in us who by his word do hear 
and believe. To believe, which is to live, is the Gift of God. He 
only is the Creator, (Rev. x. 6,) and every thing which accompanies 
this eternal life is his gift : he gives us repentance ; he gives us to 
wish, that is to will to take the water of life ; he gives us to desire, 
to long after, to hunger and thirst after that true Righteousness with 
which we shall be filled, and to forsake and abhor that counterfeit 
Righteousness or Piety which is deceitfulness and very wickedness. 

But let not Satan deceive the new-born child of God : there is no 
Righteousness in believing, in repenting, in seeking God, in praising 
and thanking him, in praying, in hungering or thirsting, or longing 
after and desiring God ! These things accompany life, but they are 
not our good nor our Righteousness : like the gold, they are in the 
temple of God, but they are in themselves nothing, though the earthy 
worshippers (the Earth) despise Him who sanctifieth the Temple, 
while they worship the gold which is in the Temple. (Matt, xxiii. 
16, 17.) God does not save us because of these things, God forbid ! 
they do not help to save us at all, nor in the least degree whatever ! 
Therefore that preaching is a lie which says " if you do all these 
things, if you pray, repent, go to church, <SfC. <SfC. you will he saved.^^ 
He saves us because he loves us everlastingly, because he will, yea, 
He will have mercy upon us ! because it is " his good pleasure to 
give us the kingdom /" It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that 
runneth, (God forbid,) but of God that showeth mercy ! He who 
dares to deny this, denies the Word, even Christ! " See (says the 
Apostle) that ye despise not him that speaJceth.^^ It is one of the 
most extraordinary and strong delusions of the religious and pious 
generation of this day, earthly men (the Earth) that though they 
boldly deny and evade the word of the living God, even Christ, they 
confidently profess and absolutely do really imagine that they are 
followers of Christ. 

God gives us all these things which accompany salvation that He 
may save us, that we may come, and enter into Righteousness and 
be blessed, and have rest unto our souls. We are not righteous and 
we are not saved because we believe, because we come to Christ, or 
wish to come, nor because we hunger and thirst after Him who is 
Righteousness, nor because we repent and abhor ourselves ; all this 
only shows how very good and gracious God is unto us, in thus lead- 
ing us himself to his truth, and not how good we are ! We have no 
Righteousness, and we do none, and we will not do any, and there is 
none can be had and none can be done but by Christ. If it were not 
so, these things which God giveth to us would be our righteousness, 
and it would not be true that He is THE LORD OUR RIGHTE- 
OUSNESS. Therefore, not to believe only, to have any trust ii* 
these and such like things is to make God a liar. 



56 THE GOSPEL OP GOD. 

As the trumpets which were sounded seven days before the walls 
of Jericho, were not the causes why the walls fell down, so our re- 
penting and praying is not the reason why God is gracious to us. 
The people of Israel did not put their trust in those trumpets nor 
worship them, and they who believe will have no confidence in, nor 
derive joy from these things. If they had attributed any efficacy 
or power whatsoever to the blowing of the trumpets, that would have 
been to bow down to them and worship them. And so it is now, in 
this time, men that are of the earth, earthy, sensual men. having not 
the spirit, attribute, power and efficacy to their praying and crying 
and seeking, and all the other deeds of their own, which they call 
the means of grace and ordinances ; and they think that on account 
of these their fleshly acts, God will hear and deliver them ; they jus- 
tify their confidence in these their works, because they see in the 
letter of the word that the redeemed of the Lord do pray and seek 
after God, therefore they worship these things which God creates in 
the hearts of his people, and in them they place confidence : these 
are their Gods, the gold and silver and brass and wood and stone of 
the temple ! which have no power, which neither can see nor hear 
nor walk : these things, with their feelings and sensations, they call 
experience, and to them they look for comfort, and from them they 
derive their joy and their confidence : it is a refuge of lies. But let 
him who believing is born of God and is a child of God, let him know 
that as neither his seeking nor desiring this eternal life is the reason 
why he obtains it, but only the everlasting love and good will of God, 
so also the enjoyment and earnest of it is not a credit to him, but is 
only a proof of God's love, and a reason why we should be more 
abased, and thank and exalt him only. To enjoy all his blessing, to 
be filled with all his fulness, to have this joy inexpressible and full 
of glory, does not make him who believes better than others, nor 
better than he was before ; he is not better before God on this ac- 
count than the damned in hell : he is only good before God in the 
person of Jesus Christ, God respecteth the person of no other man than 
the man Christ Jesus, in whom alone he is well pleased : he is only 
righteous in the personal, individual goodness of Christ the Holy 
One, the new and righteous man, the Adam of a new world, the Son 
of God ! Let no one therefore glory or rejoice in any thing what- 
soever, nor in any person, whosoever he be, but only in the Lord. 

Our want and destitution, our complete unrighteousness, the know- 
ledge of which will make us cry out in earnest unto God, is no merit, 
is no recommendation, it is not any righteousness, it is not com- 
mendable to feel it, all would feel it if they were not dead hardened 
and blinded ; the feeling and knowledge of it is very death.' This, 
our total destitution of all righteousness, this deplorable fact, that we 
are sinners, is a great disgrace and shame to us, it is a reason, and 
an ample reason, why we should be damned, instead of being a reason 
why we should be saved. It is only and solely because of this that 
the wicked will perish everlastingly ; when Christ shall appear they 
will perish and be destroyed from his presence, for this very rea- 
son, because they are evil and are found naked, that is destitute of 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 5? 

Righteousness. The experience and knowledge of our shame (which 
the earth calls getting religion) is death, and even this death, though 
they labour hard to feel it, they cannot find, they know nothing of it. 
" They seek death, (it is a glory and a merit to them to feel what 
hell-deserving sinners they are,) they seek death, hut (saith the Lord) 
they shall not find it ; they desire to die, and death is far from them^ 
No ! they who rejoice in calling themselves sinners, they do not 
know what they talk so much about, they do not know that they are 
sinners. 

Therefore let the needy sinner not glory in his shame ; let him 
know that his guilt and iniquity, his nakedness, his want and neces- 
sity, and his cry for mercy, and his prayer for deliverance, is no 
recommendation whatever. God indeed will surely hear the cry of 
the really needy, not because there is good in the cry, (for there is 
none,) but because He is good ! because he is very gracious and he 
delighteth in mercy, and because he has given a promise that he 
will hear, and has pronounced a blessing upon the miserable, guilty 
and sinful wretch that wanting, really seeks Him ! who is truly 
ashamed of, and glories not in his shame and infamy. He will gra- 
ciously and freely give the gift of Righteousness by Jesus Christ to 
the ungodly, when in their need they cry, but it is only because he 
will have mercy, because he is gracious and merciful, long suffering 
and plenteous in goodness and truth and will abundantly pardon ! 
This is why God hears and saves ! 

If seeking and praying and asking and knocking, and reading 
" good books" and keeping Sunday, and all the other false gods and 
saviours, the helps and means, and conditions and causes which the 
Son of Perdition hath set up, on the performance of which they 
place their hopes, which they take as certain proofs that they are in 
the right way, their zeal for worshipping which they audaciously 
imagine pleases God ; if the most earnest and sincere and loudest 
cries and knocks and entreaties could possibly save, or help to save, 
they would save in that great and terrible day of the Lord, when 
they who now trust in them will cry very loud, and knock and pray 
very earnestly, and God will not hear them ! (Prov. i. ult.) If they 
can help to save now, they will certainly help to save then ; if they 
are good now, they will be good then, for whatever is really good is 
eternally good. 

Let the sinner know that God hath saved him before he knew his 
need of salvation, he hath heard him before he cried, God hath com- 
passion upon him before he had any idea of his own ruin and misery, 
and because he hath loved him he hath drawn him with his love and 
given him the Spirit and a good understanding to hear his voice 
and to seek his Righteousness. They who now confide in these their 
doings, which they call means of Grace, will discover, in that day, 
that having rejected Christ there remaineth no more sacrifice for 
sin : then let the gods, the means and the helps in which they have 
trusted, save them if they are able. They say they do not reject 
him, they only join these helps with him. But God will not be thus 
dishonoured nor be helped ! He will not have any other help or god 
8 



58 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

with him ! he will not falsely share the glory of that work which he 
hath truly alone performed and no one with him, with things or 
works or imaginations which have no part and right in the doing and 
glory of it ! 

Here are many words to show what God in his Word has fully 
shown in two or three words, saying " / am thy salvation,'''' that is, 
I am ! I alone : and none of thy Righteousness, none of thy doings, 
none of thy feelings, none of thy prayings, none of thy ecstacies, but 
" / alone am thy salvation.'''' " I am God, and besides me there is 
no Saviour." But this is the very thing which man will not acknow- 
ledge, namely, that God is God alone ! they will readily pretend to 
acknowledge him if they can join other gods with him according to 
their own way and wisdom ; like Tiberius who was willing to enrol 
Christ among the gods of Rome. But, that God is God alone, ap- 
pears to the wisdom of man monstrous, absurd and wicked ! What ? 
say they, God alone saves ! and nothing to help and assist him ! 
What ? no other God ! and all our " means of Grace," our nice feel- 
ings, our sweet seasons, our prayers, our pious enterprises, our 
Sabbath keeping, our dipping into water, our going to church, our 
reading and singing, our abstinence from balls and theatres, our 
Sunday Schools, our Missionary and Bible and Temperance Confed- 
eracies, our pious and benevolent exertions, our crying and asking, 
our groanings, our experiences, and all our many helps or gods — 
will not they assist ? will not they save 1 Is God indeed God alone ? 
will not these things help, even at all? are they no saviours] are 
these good things bad and abominable 1 has not God commanded us 
to pray 1 does not therefore our praying help to save ? is it not there- 
fore a God and a saviour along with God 1 Thus Christ is to them a 
stumbling block and a rock of offence. 

God is a jealous God, and righteously and graciously so for the 
sake of his people, for certainly and most truly there is no help what- 
ever but in Him only, and no Righteousness but in Him, and since 
all our help and all our Righteousness will come only from him, all 
our trust must be in Him only and in his Righteousness, his Christ 
only, and if it is not we are without God and without hope ! It is 
therefore a blessed thing to know that the Lord He is God alone, 
besides him and with him there is no Saviour. He was in Christ 
reconciling the world unto himself, and whosoever addeth and joins 
his own or any helps to Christ and his work, is an idolater, and an 
unbeliever. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

He that wishes to he saved, shall be saved ; he that does not ivish to 
be saved shall be condemned, that is, damned. 

How Satan has deceived and blinded men, and led them to look 
for happiness in destruction and to regard good as evil. To worship 
God ! what can sound more painful to the gross, fleshly understand- 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 



59 



ings of men, calling up to their imaginations the ideas of constraint 
and penance and mortifications and misery ! And what is this, to 
worship God ? 

To worship God is to be willing to receive from him blessings and 
joy and peace and life and eternal happiness : for it is to believe in 
him ; and to believe in him and to receive at the same time the gift 
of eternal life, is one and the same, for they are inseparable. 

To believe in God (which is to receive life and peace, and to be 
made a son or daughter of the Lord Almighty) is an acknowledgment 
that God, he is God ; this is honouring him, this is in a word the true 
worship and the only true worship of God : for to look elsewhere, to 
trust for or expect good from any where else, is to know and to worship 
other Gods. He that looketh to himself a sinful man to do good, he 
worships man, that is, a beast ; he that looks for good to his regenerated 
self, (which is a mere fancy, fiction, a talking image of the self-same 
beast,) worships the image of the beast. In a word, he who looketh for 
good, for any good, to any thing or any creature, trusts in and wor- 
ships that creature and not God ! his trust is there and not in God : 
if he says he only expects it to do him a little good, to be of a little 
service or help he is a liar, his trust is there and not with God. God 
is a jealous God and there is no one with him to partake the least 
atom in his work. Therefore it is evident that the Religion of this 
time is idolatry and a worship of strange Gods, for they look for 
good almost any where and in any thing except in God only ! if 
they really worshipped God they would know and teach the doctrine 
of this little book, and nothing else, for the whole doctrine is, " Look 
only to God, trust only to God ; for good, for Righteousness, for good 
works, for every thing ; trust no where else in the least degree what- 
ever, cease from your own ivorks, look only, to God only.^^ This is 
the sum total, the sum and substance of this little Book, all it says 
is, " Him only shalt thou serve.'''' It is merely the first command- 
ment which the wisdom and piety of the earth has set altogether 
aside, viz. it is this, " I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have none 
other Gods before me." (Ex. xx. 1.) And it is manifestly evident 
that the law of God, the true worship of God, and of God only, and 
of no other God, is only established through faith, that is, by the 
Gospel. God forbid that we should make void the law through faith, 
yea we establish the law.- (Rs. iii. 31.) 

Therefore to believe, to trust only to God, to look only to him for 
Righteousness and for every thing, this only is really to worship and 
serve God ! And as to believe and to be blessed are inseparable, to 
worship God is to receive blessing immeasurable, and inconceivable 
and everlasting ! It is therefore entirely to our benefit and advantage, 
and no good or advantage to God whatever ! for He is only a giver 
in this case, and we are only receivers. 

Therefore, so far from the worship of God being desirable to 
escape from and get rid of, it is that of all things which is most de- 
sirable ; and which so far from being any good in us or any merit or 
recommendation, or even at all commendable, when we do worship 
him, is a great favour indeed, yea, the highest, the utmost of favours 



OU THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

to be permitted to worship him ! God does not want us to worship 
him, God forbid ! but it is we who are in the utmost need and neces- 
sity of worshipping him, because it alone is the only good thing for 
us, and if we do not worship him we are in horrible misery. There- 
fore it is our great benefit to worship him, and when the Scripture 
says " Worship God,''' it only says to man, be blessed, be saved, be 
happy, do yourselves good, not God ! 

And since to be willing to receive the Righteousness of God, to 
look to God only for it, to thirst for it, in a word, to wish to have it, 
to desire it, is to believe, therefore when the Scripture says " he that 
believeth shall be saved,^' it only says, he that wishes to be saved 
shall be saved ! This indeed and in truth is the great and godlike 
proclamation of the Gospel ! Such bountifulness, such graciousness, 
such liberality, how churlish men have perverted this and have been 
called liberal ! (Is. xxxii. 5.) 

And again, when the Scripture says " he that believeth not shall be 
damned,'''' it only says " he that wishes to be damned, he does not 
desire life, he shall be damned, he shall not have life ; he shall have 
his own will and wish !" Much therefore as the men of the sea, rag- 
ing and proud waves, have reviled the Scriptures, and spoken hard 
speeches against God, they will hereafter only have to curse them- 
selves, for they will not be damned without having chosen and pre- 
ferred it ! 

To hunger and thirst after Righteousness is really and earnestly 
to wish for it, and this is believing and receiving it, for the willing- 
ness to receive and the receiving are inseparable, and this Christ 
says " Whosoever will, that is, whosoever wishes, let him fake freely,''^ 
that is, for nothing ! doing nothing for it, either before, or after, or 
ever ! Such is the unspeakable Gift ! such is the great Good News ! 
and it is really and truly a Gift ! He who sayeth otherwise, and 
who will do something, and not take it freely, he maketh God a liar ! 
Woe to the " abominable and fearful /" (Rev. xxi. 8.) the abomina- 
ble, who love unrighteousness and their own ways and righteousness : 
the fearful, who are afaid of the truth and hide it in earthy doctrines, 
and think it dangerous to believe that God is true ! (Matt. xxv. 25.) 

Let it be well observed this is not an idle, assumed wish, it pro- 
ceeds from a good a right understanding, which is the Spirit of God, 
and is given by God, whoever he may be that has got it, as the 
breath in our nostrils is given, whoever has got it. No one can 
possibly wish or hunger for the Righteousness of God, who does not 
truly want it ; and he does not want it or stand in need of it, or wish 
for it, who thinks he can do good, that is, can get Righteousness by 
his doing any thing, by his following or attempted following of the 
rule of Righteousness which is the law ; who thinks he can get 
Righteousness by any other way than by Christ ; who looks for good 
(that is. Righteousness) from any other quarter. Therefore, they 
who are trying to be good and pious, and thus to establish another 
Righteousness (which is a deception, a show, a counterfeit and not a 
real Righteousness) they are liars and deceive their own selves, if 
they say or think that they look to Christ or wish to be saved or 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 61 

thirst after Righteousness ! And also those who love iniquity and 
do evil, the inhabitants of the sea, vv^ho desire no Righteousness at 
all, but follow their own ways and are satisfied with the ships of their 
own building, these do not desire to enter into Christ the ark of God, 
they think to be safe in their own vessels when the deluge comes ; 
they do not wish for Righteousness, that is, true Righteousness, they 
do not want and do not wish to be saved. 

David truly hungered and thirsted after Righteousness, when he 
said " Teach me to do thy will, O God,'''' that is, save me from my 
own wicked will, from fulfilling the desires of my flesh and of my 
mind, (Eph. ii. 3.); save me from my vain saying and teach me 
Christ who is thy Righteousness, thy " doing." He did not ask to 
know his will, but to do it ; he knew it already, for he had the form 
of all truth and knowledge in the law, but he found that was not 
sufficient, he, a sinful man, had not the Power to do the good he knew; 
but he wanted, he wished for, he thirsted after Righteousness, and 
he cried out after it, after " doing," not saying or knowing, but 
doing, in spirit and in truth, that is, in reality. Thus he thirsteth 
after Christ, after Him who came to do in very deed and reality 
what Moses made known: for by Moses we know all the will and 
Righteousness of GTod, but by Christ we do his will and fulfil all 
Righteousness ! that is, it is Christ himself who does the will of God, 
" Lo ! I come to DO thy will, O God /" and then imputes it to us, 
even to all of us, who by him do believe ! 

Thus it is, (and this is what man and his fleshly wisdom cannot 
understand,) we do the will of God by doing nothing, only believing, 
looking to Christ, who '-'■ performs all things for us T'' we standing 
still, and beholding the salvation of God ! sitting still (this is our 
strength) and doing nothing. (Ish. xxx. 7.) Herein is seen how true 
it is that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor his ways our 
ways ! for this is exactly the opposite of, and directly contrary to 
the thoughts and religion of earthly men, the religion of this last day ; 
while also the religion of this day is directly the opposite of, and 
contrary and opposed to the Truth of God ! Astonishing strength of 
the delusions of Satan, astonishing all-deceivableness of unrighteous- 
ness ! to make the utmost wickedness and atheism and rebellion 
appear to men as if it was the highest pitch of faithfulness and obe- 
dience to God ! to make bondage appear liberty, churlishness appear 
bountifulness, darkness to appear light, bitter to appear sweet, and 
the very reign of the devil and the beast, in all their wickedness and 
malice and beastliness to appear as if it was the Millennium begun on 
the earth ! for so the false and deceitful prophets have actually re- 
presented it ! 

Wherefore, to wish for, to hunger after Righteousness, and to look 
to and hope in God only for it, that is to believe : and to believe, 
(only to trust in God,) that, even that, is to worship God. And so it 
is, that to worship God thus truly, and to receive him gladly to do 
all for us, is the summit of blessedness for man. What indeed can 
be a greater blessing than to receive and have Almighty Power to be 
on our side, to crown us with glory and honour, to clothe us with 



62 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

perfect Righteousness, to do us all good, and to do all good for us ? 
Nothing can equal this except it be the knowledge of Him who is 
thus good and gracious. Therefore the enquiry of a man should be, 
— not, shall I worship God, or shall I not ? — but, as all the worship 
is merely for my own supreme joy and blessedness, and all the good 

the benefit and the advantage, is entirely on my side, -will God 

let me worship him? that is the main point ! Will he condescend 
to permit, to suffer me to draw nigh and approach unto him, and 
receive from him that which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor 
hath entered into the heart of man to conceive ! Will he take me, 
and choose me, and permit me to worship him ? 

Oh ! the unspeakable pride ! the insolence ! the audacity of human 
man ! to imagine, to dream, that God wants him to worship Him ! 
and O unspeakable blindness not to see nor understand that it is we 
who want, we who are in need, it is our blessing, it is life to us, it is 
great salvation to us, to worship Him ! for it is only to receive all 
good and every imaginable good from Him ! What frightful, yea, hor- 
rible and most abominable insolence of our vain and evil hearts, when 
we imagine that in muttering prayers, or reading the bible, or sing- 
ing psalms, or keeping one day above another, or not dancing, or 
not drinking, or not going to a theatre, that we are doing good ! 
serving God ! yea, doing him a favour and performing a service to 
Him ! The Earth is turned upside down, (Is. xxiv.) for the truth of 
God is, that God does a favour to man, and God does a service for 
man ; and they turn things upside down and preach that man does a 
favour to God, man does a service to God ! O abominable abomina- 
tion 1 O wickedness not to be conceived ! The Gospel is the news 
of the Grace, that is, the favour of God to man, and the Religion of 
this Time is just the reverse, viz. a profession of the grace, that is, 
the favour of man to God ! 

Instead of our worship being any service or favour to God, it is a 
most wonderful and astonishing condescension and humiliation on 
God's part to let us worship him ! To permit us to worship him, to 
give, to grant to us to believe in him, this is to make us, — us wretches, 
— equal to the angels of heaven : it is to fill us with all good. Well 
therefore is it said that this faith whereby we approach unto God, is 
the gift and calling of God ! It cannot be otherwise, and all those 
who believe, who wish for the Righteousness of God, are chosen of 
God : if they hunger after Righteousness, then and not unless, it is 
certain they are blessed and chosen of God ! God hath loved them 
and chosen them, to cause them to approach unto Him ! Thus the 
Prophet says, " Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, O Lord, and 
causest to approach unto Thee /" and therefore because he hath 
before chosen them and always intended to save them, they, by his 
Word and his Spirit, hear and understand his Truth, and believe, and 
thus approach unto Him ! 

It is therefore a blessed thing, if any one hungers and thirsts after 
Righteousness ; for whoever he be that does, he owes that blessed- 
ness entirely to God ! God hath loved him with an everlasting love, 
and chosen him, and ordained him to eternal life ; He who now gives 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 63 

him grace and favour in Christ, gave him Grace in Christ before the 
foundation of the world ! (2 Tim. i. 9.) " / have loved thee with an 
everlasfinij love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee^^ 
saith God by the Prophet Jeremiah. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The inviolability of the law of God. 

It is an abominable thing to teach that Christ does only a part and 
not all ; and that he who believes has something to do, that Christ 
does not do all for him. If Christ does any thing at all, he does all 
wholly and entirely : if the sinner has any thing at ail to do, then he 
has all and every thing to do, and then there is no salvation. 

The law which says " cZo," means really and truly, do all and 
every thing, not in part, but wholly and perfectly ; and the Gospel 
which says " believe,^' means really and truly what it says, do no- 
thing at ail, but leave it all to Christ, trusting in him. He who has 
something to do, has all to do, for he is under the law, and the law 
admits not of part being done and part being undone ; it admits no 
imperfect obedience. They who are under it, who are not dead to 
it by the body of Christ, they must fulfil it entirely, or suffer all its 
penalty : and they who believe in Him, do fulfil it entirely (by Him) ; 
thus in any case by Jew or by Gentile, by Heathen or Christian, by 
believer or infidel, it must be fulfilled, it cannot be broken,' it is surer 
than heaven and earth. Christ fulfils it for them that receive him, 
without their moving the little finger of the arm of man ; but they 
who will not receive him for all Righteousness, but will have some- 
thmg to do, they are not by their own pride removed from under its 
obligation, they have got it all to fulfil and they may move heaven 
and earth, they cannot fulfil it, they are too far gone in wickedness, 
as all men are, for that. 

They who say, or think that to believe is yet to have something to 
are blind and wicked, and do not believe God's word of the gospel, 
" Believe and thou shalt be saved." They very sincerely believe, 
(sincerely, because we are sincerely and earnestly wicked,) that 
what they do, or think they ought to do, is very good, and com- 
manded of God, and will please God. Yes, so it is commanded of 
him, if it be all good, for his law commands all good : and so it will 
please him if they do really all good, for he is good and loveth good. 
But they vainly think that their praying and going to their Church, 
and keeping their Sabbath, is very good, and the sinner who takes 
to these things will please God, and they add, through Jesus Christ. 
They mean to say that Christ will make all these things coming 
from sinful man who does not do real good, that is all the law of good, 
acceptable and pleasing to God ! So that when a man is a law 
breaker, yet God will accept him through Jesus Christ : and this 
violation of the law by God, or tliis his supposed admission of its 
violation, they call Grace ! Abominable wickedness of Satan's de- 



64 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

lusions ! Nothing but the perfect fulfilling of the law, — and this is 
only by Christ, and is his work — can be pleasing to God. Christ did 
not come, far, far from it, to make our filthy works good, to help to 
glorify us and puff us up with admiration of ourselves, but utterly to 
destroy them altogether, and he himself to work the work of God 
for us, fulfilling the whole law perfectly for the ungodly who receive 
him to do it ; perfectly, not imperfectly, else it were no salvation. 

If when a man has done wrong, that is, in other words, is a sinner, 
then if going to Church, and praying, or keeping one day in seven, 
or doing or not doing any thing whatsoever, if such things will make 
it all right again, and dispose God to forgive him, then to do wrong 
is a very trifling thing indeed, yea, the law of God is a jest, if thus 
it can be done away by such trifling things ! But " God is not 
mocked /" They preach that these things are made acceptable and 
eflfectual only by the Grace of God ! through Jesus Christ our Lord ! 
If the Grace of God did assist to give eflfect to such half-obediences 
of the law, to such defective and sinful doings, then would Christ be 
made to assist the condemned and the transgressors in violating and 
despising the law of God ; for he who does not fully obey this law of 
good in all things, is a transgressor and condemned. But God's holy 
and righteous law, his moral, yea, and far more than moral law, 
cannot possibly be broken, and most assuredly Christ does never 
assist to break it ; nor does the Grace of God consist in helping him 
who breaks it to patch it up again and obey it a little, that is, to do 
a little good, nor any at all. No wrong of any kind can be done 
with impunity by Heathen or Christian or any one whosoever he be. 
No assistance, no Grace will be given to the wrong-doer to palliate 
the imperfection of his obedience : imperfect obedience is no obe- 
dience at all, it is total disobedience, it is crime, (James) ; herein is 
the sin the crime of mankind that they do not perfectly do what is 
right, they are the oflferers of an imperfect obedience. If the law 
that wrong must not be done, and which pronounces a curse upon all 
wrong doing (that is, sin) — if this law could have been broken, then 
God could have broken it, and Christ might have saved his people 
without any suflfering. But it was not possible that that cup should 
pass from him, if we were to be saved : no, it was not possible ; the 
law could not be broken ; and he drank it up to the dregs instead of 
us, even the full cup of the wrath of God revealed by the law against all 
unrighteousness, that is, against all wrong-doing. Therefore no wrong 
whatsoever, not the least wrong can possibly be done and go unpunished. 
The death of Christ is a terrible guarantee of the inviolability of the 
law. How then shall sinful man, full of all secret evil, drenched in 
floods of hidden filthiness, dare to imagine and absolutely even to 
preach, that a little muttering of his prayers, a little paltry piety and 
devotion, a going to church, and keeping Sunday, the not drinking 
spirits and not going to balls, in one word, a doing something, shall 
help him to escape ? and that he will escape by the Grace of God, 
through Jesus Christ ! Astonishing wickedness and delusion to dare 
to think and to preach that the Grace of God is intended to give 
impunity to wickedness and safety to crime ! This is the turning the 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 65 

Grace of our God into lasciviousness, which is now done as it was 
foretold it would be ! (Peter.) 

The only reason why men dare thus to contemn God, is because 
they do not really believe that God will punish, (Ps. x.) they do not 
believe the law, they think their offences are light and venial, that it 
is a trifling thing to do wrong ; that the law is a jest, a mere nothing, 
that therefore the Grace of God may be depended upon to render 
the enactments of the law of no effect, to weaken, to violate, to set 
aside the law ! 

Monstrous as this perversion of the Grace of God is, great as is 
the enormity of this crime, yet how all-deceivable such unrighteous- 
ness and wickedness is, (2 Thess.) is proved by the fact, the aston- 
ishing fact, that this very wickedness and guilt, passes both with 
those who are guilty of it, and before the eyes of all others also, 
imder the character and appearance of uncommon sanctity and piety, 
and reverence for God, and zeal for the law ! 

No indeed, it is a terrible thing to do wrong : it is not a trifling 
thing ! No part of God's law being obeyed, though they may say 
by the Grace of God, can make up for what is not obeyed. So 
terrible is the law of the Almighty God, to those who do not fully 
and perfectly obey it, that if any man believes the truth of the law, 
he certainly will believe the Gospel, and gladly receive Jesus Christ 
for all his Righteousness. But they who despise the law of God and 
tremble not at it, they will despise the Gospel, they cannot believe. 
(Luke xvi. 31.) 

Whether we are under the law or whether we are under the Gos- 
pel, the Law cannot and will not be broken. It is fully and perfectly 
obeyed, and fulfilled by Christ for them that believe, and thus it is 
not broken : and its curse will be fulfilled and established to all trans- 
gressors in the day when God will judge the world, and thus it will 
not be broken. 



CHAPTER XV. 

To he under the law and at the same time to believe is impossible. A 

cry against the Earth. 

They who cleave to the law, seeking to do good, (for to try to do 
good is to try to fulfil the law and to cleave to it,) they dishonour 
thereby that very law of good-doing which they vainly imagine they 
love so much ! They dishonour it, for they violate it, they break it, 
they do not fulfil it. If they think they keep it, or that they do 
good, then they do not even believe that it is true, for it itself posi- 
tively declares to them that they do not keep it at all ! (Rs. iii. 19.) 
The law declares this. 

He who cleaveth to the law, who has got to do good, or sortie- 
thing to do, can have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of 
God ! it is utterly impossible, for he is a transgressor, he is con- 
demned, he abideth in condemnation and death. He is a transgressor, 
for he has got to do good, he has got a law to fulfil, and as God is 
9 



66 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

true, he does not do it : he is therefore in condemnation, and that is 
death itself. Since he does not do all that which he is bound to do, 
he is unrighteous and condemned, and most certain it is, no unright- 
eous man, no condemned man has or can have any access to God, 
nor know him, nor love him, nor have peace with him. Such a man, 
whatever he may say, however he may labour to deceive himself 
with vain words, and talk of Grace and peace and love, does not be- 
lieve in Christ at all nor in the least degree whatever, for no one 
can be condemned by the law and free from condemnation in Christ 
at one and the same time ! There is no condemnation to them that 
believe, they are no longer transgressors, they are justified, that is, 
made righteous, and are without spot, and have peace with God. (Rs. 
V. 1.) And no one can be justified and be righteous, and be con- 
demned and cursed at one and the same time ! But he who follows 
the law is a transgressor, and is unrighteous and. condemned and 
cursed, for he has got to do good and he does not do it. So that it 
is utterly impossible to follow Christ and believe in him, if a man is 
under the law, and follows it, and is labouring to do good, as the 
Earth (the religious professors) now are doing : they do not believe, 
and it is impossible for them to be saved, if they continue in unbelief, 
having something to do, and not having God to do all for them, ac- 
cording to his Everlasting Covenant. 

The Everlasting Covenant which God made with Abraham, since 
by it it only the law of God is honoured and perfectly obeyed, since 
by it he that believes is blessed, wonderfully blessed in Jesus Christ, 
blessed with perfect Righteousness and perfect peace, and is by and 
in him a fulfiller of the whole law. This, this only is the Covenant 
which God regards, which he keeps and remembers for ever, which 
can never be broken, for man hath no hand in it, and which he hath 
confirmed by an oath ! In this covenant only, and in none other than 
this, in all times and in all ages, has any one ever been blessed who 
is blessed ! All God's favours and mercies shown to his people 
Israel, at all times from the foundation of the world, were shown to 
them not because of the covenant of the law, nor for any of their 
observance of its excellent ordinances, however strict and exact, but 
whoelly, solely, and entirely in Christ Jesus who was to come, yea, 
solely on account of the Righteousness of Christ by faith. It was, 
(as is said in the book of Psalms, after a long enumeration of all his 
mercies and goodness to the house of Israel,) it was all done and 
only done " because he remembe?'ed his Holy Promise and Abraham 
his servant.'^'' (Ps. cv. 42.) It was not because they did any good, or 
tried to do any, or because they obeyed him, or because they were 
pious or religious or devout, or kept a day of the week, — far, far 
from it ! it was not because of any conditions they had fulfilled or 
were willing to fulfil, but only and merely because of Christ Jesus 
the Righteousness of God, the end and fulfiller of the law, whom they 
saw afar off* in the daily blood-shedding, and waited for him, and 
hoped in him, and walked in his strength, (Ps.) and in whom God 
beheld them and loved them ! For ever blessed be God for his 
Everlasting Covenant, his Mercy, his Work, his Promise ! 



THE GOSPEL OP GOD. 67 

Since such was the case with Israel, what are the vain confidences 
worth of those who preach a mutilated, dishonoured and partial law, 
nay, a new invented law of their own which is no law ; who say " do 
good" (and that even not real good) to the wicked one, the man of 
sin ? What is their proud confidence worth, that they serve God 
and please him, when even Israel, which followed after the holy law, 
and tried to do good, by strictly following it, and did not invent 
instead of it, a false law, a false standard of good, and vain substitutes 
instead of the law, when they, yea, even they could not please him, 
and did not please him, but were utterly, utterly cast off and abhorred, 
as it is to this day, because they would not receive the only Righte- 
ousness of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ? Wicked as they were 
who rejected Christ, though yet they did not entirely set aside the 
law, how much more wicked are those who both reject Christ, and 
also at the same time totally set aside the law ? And yet more ! 
how much more abominable and guilty they are who, while they 
totally reject the Righteousness of God, yet pretend, with all deceiv- 
able appearances of sanctity and piety, to love him and assist him 
and kiss him, talking of the " dear Redeemer, Free Grace," &c. &;c. 
And also, while they totally set aside the law both in theory and 
practice, (setting up confederacies and substitutes for its real good- 
doing, and being devoted to covetous and wicked practices of hatred 
and malice,) — yet all the while wickedly pretend to obey the holy 
law of God, and to follow this law which they have slain, as their 
rule and guide ? 

Never was there a generation on the earth so wicked and impious, 
so blasphemous and proud, so confident, insolent and bold, so appa- 
rently lamb-like and saintly, so truly deceitful and abominable! They 
do not hesitate, they are not afraid, to deny point blank and most 
audaciously, the plain and positive word of God, being confident that 
their own ways are perfectly right, and Satan persuading them that 
what God says means nothing or very little, and that they will 
easily find some other text or passage to overthrow or pervert or 
blunt whatever appears to be against them ! Let them know how- 
ever, and they shall know shortly, for the time is at hand, that the 
whole word of God is against them, against their practices, and 
against their doctrines ! The Scripture is full of prophecies against 
them ; Anti-Christ is there as plainly made known as Christ, that 
we, seeing what is not the doctrine of Christ, may be assured and 
certain what is. All the prophecies are concentrated upon this 
generation. They scoff (Peter), they think lightly of God, they 
think lightly of their delusions and follies, they think their zeal, their 
fleshly zeal, which indeed is great for their own glory, will atone for 
their being wrong in some things, for they sometimes confess they 
may be wrong in some things. Proud and deluded men, not to under- 
stand that the Holy Spirit of God is wrong in nothing ; that he who 
has drank of this spirit is taught aright of God and cannot be wrong. 
(John.) They think lightly of their own delusions, of their perver- 
sions of the Grace of God ! Every thing is light with them, pro- 
vided they have a hot and fleshly zeal to do good ! Evil men ! to 



68 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

dream of good from such filthy and abominable fountains ! But let 
them know, and they shall know, that great and glorious and vast 
and stupendous as is the Truth, the Eternal Truth of the living God, 
wonderful as is his exceeding rich Grace, unutterably large and libe- 
ral and god-like as is his unspeakable Gift and Truth ( f his Grace, 
in just such proportion are their lies and false doctrines abominable. 
In such proportion as his wonderful Gospel is all that is lovely 
and good, just so is even the very least perversion of it all that is 
hateful and wicked ! wicked beyond conception, when wicked men 
assuming the authority and very words of God for this vile purpose, 
dare to counterfeit and pervert his Gospel by their own wisdom, and 
teach their own theories and imaginations in place of, and casting on 
one side, the Eternal Word of Truth ! This generation is called, 
collectively, the Son of Perdition. (2 Thess.) Judas is a figure and 
representative of them, as John also is a representative of the last 
disciples, who shall eat up, yea, devour this little book, who are 
to be the last and to tarry till he come : for now first the words 
of Christ are understood which he said of John, that he should 
tarry till he came, for he spake of us, knowing us and seeing us, 
even of us who shall believe by Him, and remain on the earth till 
his glorious coming ! Like Judas they appear to follow him ; like 
Judas they make a bargain and sale of him, (for according as they 
preach any body may have him for a little money, of piety and per- 
formances,) like Judas also they kiss him while they betray and sell 
him, calling him " dear Jesus," " the dear Redeemer," like Judas 
they sit at table with him, and like him their consciences are so 
seared and their hearts so hardened, that not suspecting their own 
wickedness, they say with astonishment " Lord is it I ?" like Judas 
they are transformed into Apostles, like him they cast out devils, 
and do many wonderful works ; like him they are not found out till 
the very last, and it is to John, the last, the beloved disciple, as he 
leans on Jesus' bosom and trusts to him that Christ reveals them as 
he now does openly in this little book, to them, even his beloved, 
■that shall believe in his Name ! 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Why the Law was given, 

Man is evil and doeth evil, and for this wicked one, this scarlet 
beast, being so altogether evil, to pretend that he does good, to as- 
sume airs of counterfeit holiness, and put on filthy robes of human 
righteousness, thinking them a fine clothing, is the very summit of 
self-deception, of pride, of denial of God's truth, and of rebellion 
against God and his word. It is the pride and rebellion of Satan ! 

When God gave his righteous law to sinful flesh, it was not in 
order to set up this filthy and malignant worm as having the power 
and arm of God, and able to do what God alone does in the very 
angels who are around his throne ! No ! it was for the very con- 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 69 

trary purpose, to put him down, and show him by vvoful experience, 
his utter brutishness without God. (Ps.) None is good save one, that 
is God : and they who acknowledge and love him, because of his 
first love to them which they believe, who trust to him, they receive 
goodness from him as a gift and a Grace ; they receive his own 
goodness ; and this is the only way that any one is good in heaven 
or earth ! " Thou only art JioJy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God.'''' 
(Rev.) So that it is all by faith, receiving, not working, all by the 
work of God and his Grace, yea, even in the very angels. 

God gave his holy law, because of transgression, (Rs,) to make 
known to sinners the evil of their evil ; to make known the certainty 
of the punishment of all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men : he 
gave it for the wicked who do evil, and love evil, and for his people 
also as long as being in unbelief they do evil, that they might know 
the misery of their own destructions ; that they might learn and 
know by it their own errors and impotency, and know that there was 
no power nor Righteousness but of God ; by it is known the exceed- 
ing sinfulness of sin, of which otherwise we should never have any 
knowledge, no, nor even suspicion. Blessed are they who hear and 
are taught by this law. 

If the people whom God will save had no knowledge of the fact 
of their own sinfulness, how could they look to God for Righteous- 
ness ? how could they believe 1 No one looketh for that which he 
does not know that he wants. And they could not know that there 
was any Righteousness at all, if they had not known that their own 
works were evil, and all their Righteousness as filthy rags. If they 
had remained in ignorance of their utter sinfulness, and never dis- 
covered that not to be in God is to be evil, that to be trying to do 
good by our own power, and not to have the Spirit of God in us to 
do it for us, is to be like the beasts ; if they had not known this, then 
they would have remained like the beasts that perish, and never have 
known God, and have been always dreaming of righteousness from 
themselves and imagining their evil to be good : they would never 
have known Him, that he only is God, he only is good, he is Right- 
eousness itself, and all that are good are only so by being filled with 
him ! 

How, without this teaching, could they look to God only for 
Righteousness ? Therefore the law is as it were a school-master, 
pointing to Christ the Righteousness of God. Therefore David says, 
" Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, O Lord, and teachest him 
out of thy Law." And again he says why he is blessed, and why 
God teaches him by his law, that it is not to set him to work, to do 
something, no, far from it, but to give him Rest, even perfect rest 
from all his own works and vain doings ! and this Rest, this Sabbath 
from his own doings, this is Christ ! Yes, it is to give him Rest, 
and not to make him, Iniquity, good, that is God ! Christ has de- 
stroyed in his own body on the tree the beast, the flesh, the old man 
of sin, born of Adam, even Iniquity, which never can be good, (John 
iii. 6,) which is not subject to God's law, and cannot be, (Rs.) and 
all they who believe are dead with him, that this man of sin may be 



70 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

destroyed, (not ameliorated nor made good,) that henceforth they 
should not serve this body, nor do its works, but live in Jesus Christ, 
clothed in the Righteousness of God ! 

They therefore know nothing of God, they do not believe in God, 
who dream, and they are called filthy dreamers, (Jude) — who dream 
that they, filthy men and women, can follow this holy law, this 
perfect rule of 'perfect righteousness ! who dream that they, being 
evil, can work the Righteousness of God ! for the Righteousness of 
the law, all true Righteousness is the Righteousness of God ! 

He who imagines that good can come from his utmost efforts to 
follow this law of good, does not believe that God alone is only good, 
the only fountain and source of good, and the only doer of good : he 
believes in himself and not in God ; he sets up himself for God and 
Saviour ; himself a man of sin, a beast before God, or his regener- 
ated self, a fiction, an imagination, an image of himself, a speaking 
image of the beast. (Revs, xiii.) But if he says in the all-deceiva- 
bleness of unrighteousness, that he believes in God and only partly 
seeks to do good by following partly the law as a rule of life, that is, 
as a guide for him to do good, then he expects good from himself, 
and not from God only ! But God cannot be believed in partly, nor 
by halves ; he saves wholly and altogether by himself, there is no 
God with him, no Saviour besides him, no arm to help him ; He is 
God alone, and his glory he will not give unto another. He who 
thinks therefore that any, the least good or Righteousness can come 
by his trying to do good, he entirely rejects the good, the Righteous- 
ness of God, for he does not want it, it is not quite good enough for 
him, he must put some of his own filthiness to it ! 

It will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for those wicked 
persons, the inhabitants of the Sea, who have openly and altogether 
denied Christ, than for those deceitful, double-minded men who have 
pretended to believe in him and honour him, while they followed 
after their own righteousness and believed in themselves : who had 
rather he should make their wickedness good and acceptable, (which 
is impossible,) than receive him at once to be all their Righteous- 
ness and do all good for them, (which is easy to him and is his very 
work and Grace) : who have said in their hearts we will join Christ 
with Belial, we will do good and he shall make even that to be good, 
and make up all deficiencies besides ! thus we will save ourselves, 
and to show our humility we will say we are great sinners and call 
him the Saviour ! 

To preach " do good," (if it be indeed and really good,) is to 
preach the law of God, and with it the curse and death, because the 
very law which commands to do good, at the same time declares, 
^* there is none that doeth good, no, not one.^'' Therefore, there is no 
gospel whatever, no good news, no peace, nothing but the tidings of 
destruction and death in such preaching ; it signifies not whatever 
deceitful appearances of gospel may be mixed with it ; if the law is 
there, the inevitable curse is there too, and no blessing can be min- 
gled and joined with cursing. To preach therefore to men to do 
good is utterly vain ; it is practically to tell men there is no Christ, 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 71 

no Messiah, no Righteousness of God, and no salvation. It is 
utterly vain, even if it be done with all faithfulness and iruth, if even 
the whole law of God be really taught, and all its goodness and 
excellence, and all its virtue and good actions be inculcated in all 
fulness and truth : it is altogether vain as concerns salvation ; it is 
good only for condemnation, for a bridle and whip for the fools' back, 
for a terror to wicked transgressors. 

But the deceitful Anti-Christ, this religious generation, the Earth, 
the earthly men, they do not preach the Law of God at all, nor its 
real and perfect commands, in all their vain preaching and teaching. 
The " do good" which they preach, is a false law of their own 
invention, it is not the perfect, righteous, holy, moral and excellent 
law of God, which commands men to do all good to one another, not 
to covet houses, money and lands, nor lend out their money upon 
usury, nor to take a pledge from the needy ; the " do goocT'' which 
they preach is all to be fulfilled by subscribing to their confederacies, 
attending their meetings, assuming their looks, adopting their lan- 
guage, making an outside show, pretending to be a sinner, and to 
have felt convictions, subscribing money for the " cause," becoming 
one of them, being puffed up with vain conceit, trusting they will go to 
heaven, and swelling with fleshly dreams and good feelings, and talking 
idly and audaciously of Grace and love and glory, and their inward 
experiences ! " speaking great swelling irords of vanity, not knowing 
what they say, nor whereof they afjirm /" Herein is their salvation ; 
and to those who join them, they confidently proclaim peace, when 
there is no peace : so anxious is each whorish church to get and 
increase the number of her lovers, (Ezk.) that " they allure through 
much wantonness of the fesh,^"* and use all sorts of attractions, hold- 
ing out the lure of fleshly advantage, of worldly benefit, profit and 
gain, to attract lovers, saying that men will save money by leaving 
the tippling house and joining them, and that they will be more re- 
spectable and get on better in the world ! 

If he be utterly vain as it is, even to preach perfect and real 
good-doing, and all the truth and righteousness of God's law, — if 
even all this, without even the least drawback, is vain and unprofita- 
ble through the weakness of the flesh, and only kills instead of 
giving life, (Rs. vii.) then how vain, how monstrous, how wicked, 
how horribly abominable, is all this their preaching of all this their 
good, which is not good ! which is abomination ! How utterly vain 
is their austere inculcation of their pious practices, their fleshly Sab- 
bath keeping, their society-joining, their church-joining, their tract 
distributing, their abstinence from drinks and balls and theatres and 
ribbons, their mournful looks, their howling and groaning, their 
money gatherings, their missionary and benevolent exertions ! 

If the preaching of God's holy and good law, in fulness and with- 
out diminution or drawback, be a vanity, and be the preaching neither 
of Gospel nor of blessing, what a vanity, what more than vanity are 
all these inventions, these idle, foolish and wicked substitutes, these 
proud-swelling and earthly ostentations ! Never, no never, in any 
age of the world, or by any people, was iniquity so completely 



72 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

masked and disguised and carried to such an exalted, such a tremen- 
dous pitch ! Samaria's open idolatry (the Greek and Roman Catholic 
Churches) is abominable, but it is gross : but the deceitful hypocrisy 
of Judah (and the Protestant Churches) is most abominable, it is a 
refinement of deception and wickedness, a counterfeit, to deceive, 
if it were possible, the very elect ! The wisdom and knowledo-e of 
earthly man hath brought to pass these perversions, (Is.) because the 
wisdom of God, " Believe," and nothing more, was too foolish for 
them ! They laugh and scoff (Peter) at the very idea of sitting still, 
of standing still, doing nothing, and having the strength of the Al- 
mighty God ! (Is.) They have chosen their own way, and despised 
God's way, and he hath left them to their own delusions. This is 
the strange, the wonderful work which God hath done. (Is.) God 
who searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins, hath tried them, it 
has been " the hour of temptation to try them that dwell on the earth,'''' 
(that is, the earthy men, the professors of religion and piety ; the 
self-creators, the wise men, the self-electors !) They professed to 
be wise, to be able to know God as they pleased, and to be ready 
and obedient to obey his word, and God has tried them if they 
would do so, and they have denied that God is God, that power is 
only his, that he only has understanding and giveth understanding, 
and doeth whatsoever he will and saveth whom he will. And deny- 
ing God and his Might, they have received Satan and all his delu- 
sions, they have greedily swallowed up the flood of lies and follies 
and blasphemies and abominations, which he has cast out of his 
mouth : (Rev. xii.) for there is no folly and wickedness of false 
doctrine which in these last days the inhabiters of the earth have not 
greedily swallowed. 

Never will the truth of God " pride goeth before a fall," which 
has already been proved true, be so fully proved as when their day 
Cometh, when all their works and confidences, and troops and con- 
federacies will melt away in an instant, like wax before the presence 
of the Lord, and they will have nothing to lay hold of, nothing to 
hope in, and no where to look, when all their proud buildings which 
now appear to them so solid and excellent, will fall with a great fall, 
and the sandiness of the foundation be plainly revealed. They are 
those who say, and with all their saying they do not ; they worship 
a speaking image, they are great speakers, but they are not doers of 
the word : nor can they be, not having Christ, nor desiring him to 
do all for them! at being thus real doers they scoff, saying "what? 
are we to sit still and do nothing 1" that is to say, " lohat 1 are we 
to believe V This great wisdom of God is foolishness to them. (1 
Cor.) 

But if any one should say, how can a man be guilty if he is not 
elect '\ What T because there are holy, elect angels in heaven, is 
therefore the wickedness which is done on the earth no wickedness 
at all ] Is there therefore no law and no justice against deliberate, 
malicious and desperate wickedness 1 God forbid ! And because 
God is willing to show mercy, and from everlasting was so deter- 
mined, and therefore has an elect people, a remnant who will believe 



-THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 73 

and whom he will save, does that make wickedness to be no wicked- 
ness ? Does God's mercy on whom he will have mercy clear the 
guilty ? (Exodus.) Whether there were elect angels or not, whether 
there were elect vessels or not, wickedness is wickedness, and those 
who hate God, who hate his Righteousness, and wantonly and ma- 
liciously despise his word, and do unrighteousness, are wicked, 
maliciously and willingly wicked, and God will show his power by 
them, and he hardens their hearts because of their pride and wisdom, 
and they caimot escape the justice of the law by which every one 
will be judged according to the deeds which he has done ! What 
has the existence of a righteous generation (made righteous by great 
grace and mercy) to do with the guilt of the wicked ? It interferes 
with their criminality no more than the existence of a race of fishes 
in the sea, or of birds in the air ! They say and know they ought 
to do good, they say they can, and yet they do that which is evil, 
and they fight against and wrest deceitfully God's words, and despise 
and set at naught his Mercy and his Christ. Let them really do 
good and they have nothing, no nothing whatever to fear, they, even 
they themselves shall save their souls alive. 

God's Grace in Christ Jesus to them that believe in his Name, 
« THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS," does not set aside the 
law, the very principle of right and wrong : they who do wrong 
shall suffer for the wrong they do, and he will save those who lay 
hold of Jesus Christ, who shall be found sprinkled with his blood and 
cleansed from all their wrong. But the existence of a saved and 
redeemed people, will not overthrow God's law, nor bestow impunity 
to wickedness. 

Therefore let a man beware how he dream of rioting in evil with 
impunity, pretending that because God will have mercy on whom he 
will have mercy, he need not therefore care what he does ! God is 
righteous and will judge the world in equity : every one will receive 
according to his deeds, and will only be condemned for the wrong 
which he has done ; whether there be a Gospel or not, that does not 
alter the case. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
living God. The law of God says to all flesh, " beware lest ye 
perish," and they will not hear. But the love of God says to his 
people (and it is the Word the power of God) " Come unto me," 
and they hear the voice of this love by the Word of God and they 
come, and they shall come, and shall never perish. *' My sheep hear 
my voice''' — " he that is of God heareth God's words,'' but sinful 
flesh heareth them not, and will never hear, but will do wickedly 
and will not understand, (Daniel xii. 10,) and shall be judged and 
perish as if there never had been any Gospel given, as also they 
must, for their wickedness, if there never had been any. 



10 



74 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Of the Sea and the Earth ; that they both agree in the same wicked 

doctrine* 

The Sea, in the prophetic language of the Scripture, describes the 
world in general ; the Earth, standing out of the Sea, describes the 
religious or professing world, who are apparently separated and 
come out from the world. The Sea describes man as he really is. 
As the Sea is sometimes calm and smooth as glass, so man appears 
innocent and harmless ; but the calm is deceitful, they are only 
waiting to do evil. As the sea, when the four winds blow upon it, 
rages dreadfully and is ungovernable, so are men, when they are 
moved by the winds of those lusts which proceed out of their hearts, 
or when Satan enters into them and foments the evil ; when roused 
by the love of gain, or the fear of loss, then they are like the raging 
sea, unutterably and diabolically violent and wicked. Thus the Sea, 
with fidelity of description, describes, by one word, the world at 
large and those of it whom the men of earthly religion call infidels. 
As the Sea is far more extensive than the Earth, and spreads over a 
much larger surface, so are those far the most numerous who do not 
believe what is called Christianity. The infidels of the world, like 
the waves of the Sea, are violently opposed to the religious world, 
the earth ; they foam and dash against it, like waves of the Sea, and 
make in some parts great inroads upon it : they are also high and 
lifted up, and proud, boisterous and blasphemous : like raging waves 
of the Sea, they defy all restraint and acknowledge no master ; they 
say, " our tongues are our own^ who is lord over us ?" Wherefore 
the " Sea" is employed to signify the infidel world. 

The Earth describes the religious world, which is comparatively 
a small portion of professors standing out of the Sea. No word like 
this could so aptly describe the religious professors. They are men 
of the earth, earthy and sensual : all their doctrines are of the earth, 
their wisdom is earthly, (James iii. 14, 15,) their knowledge and un- 
derstanding is earthly, natural, and taught of men ; their practices 
are earthly ; their hopes, views and ambitions are earthly ; they 
mind earthly things ; their foundation is built upon the earth ; their 
fruits are of the earth ; their conversation is upon the earth, (not in 
heaven ;) their thoughts are upon the earth, and they bring forth 
briars and thorns, (having fallen away from the truth of which they 
have had, and profess still to have the light and the knowledge,) and 
are nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. (Heb. vi. 8.) 
Thus no word could possibly have been selected so true and exact to 
describe them. 

These two, the sea and the earth, (that is, both infidels and the 
professors of religion and piety,) do now agree in doctrine, and in 
believing the same lie, and in denying the same Truth ; the Sea is 
bold and undisguised, the Earth indirect and disguised in its error 
and wickedness. 

The lie they believe is one, and it includes all lies, namely, that 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 75 

God is NOT the Creator, that is, He is not God ! And the truth 
which they agree in denying, and which they will not receive and 
acknowledge, is one, and it includes'^all truth, namely, that God is 
God alone. The philosophical and wise infidels, raging waves of the 
Sea, say that the worlds are self-existent, self-created, that God did 
not create them, they were not created at all, or they created them- 
selves. The Earthly professors also, in their wisdom and knowledge 
say the same, of the new and far more glorious creation of God ; 
namely, that it is self-existent and self-created, that God does not 
himself alone, by his power alone, create his own redeemed people, 
they create themselves if they please. This is to deny God, it is to 
say there is no God, and all the train of confusion and lies follows 
with this ; and yet the depths of Satan are such, that with this lie as 
their fundamental doctrine, they make themselves appear to be, and 
persuade themselves that they are the servants of God, even of him 
whose word and doctrine they hate and deny. 

The leading, the essential doctrine of the Earth is, that to believe 
(which is to be created and made alive from the dead) is the work 
of man ; that it is in the power of man, even of man, if he pleases ! 
This is a total denial of God the Creator, and it is idolatry, for it is 
making corruptible man, even the man of sin, the wicked one, a 
Creator and a god, exalting him above Him whom they yet pretend 
to call God, as it is foretold should be in the last day before the 
coming of Christ. (2 Thess. ii. 3.) 

This lie, which to them is a pious, a benevolent and rational doc- 
trine, namely, that a man may and can believe if he pleases, or that 
it is in the power of man to believe, they insist upon and preach as 
the means of inducing wicked men to turn to God ! without it they 
have no hope whatever that a man can be saved ! Thus they have 
no hope whatever, but in the Power of Man ! all their Gospel is the 
Power of Man ! and after such a compliment paid to human supre- 
macy and power, they trust the wicked beast can hardly refuse, yea, 
he may perchance be persuaded and induced, even by the grace of 
God, (which they make an auxiliary to their own omnipotence,) to 
put forth his Power and ascend into heaven ! and then, having thus 
exalted himself, and sitting in the temple of God, this Wicked One 
lyingly pretends to ascribe all the glory to the grace of God, by 
which hypocrisy they also proclaim their doctrine and faith to be 
nothing but a lie, and thus they are involved in lies and confusion, 
and are truly a City of Confusion, that is, Babylon ! 

This their doctrine is entirely their own invention, and is the fruit 
of their own wisdom and knowledge, for there is not one word nor 
syllable nor letter in the whole Scripture of God, from beginning to 
end, containino^ such an abominable doctrine and wicked lie ! How 
then do they persuade themselves that they find this their doctrine 
in the Scriptures? They obtain it by inference, by their own gross 
and earthly argumentation and reasoning, by forming their own 
fleshly deductions and inferences from the spiritual Word of life ! 
They argue and infer that because the Word says " Believe'^ — 



76 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 

" Repent and believe the Gospel,^'' that therefore it is as a matter of 
course in the power of man to repent and believe the Gospel ! And 
so their whole faith and religion and all their hopes and vain confi- 
dences are built and founded upon a vain and fleshly inference of the 
human understanding, and thus are they built upon the foundation of 
man, a scarlet beast ! on this are they seated, as well as their Mother, 
the Mother of harlots, (Rev. xvii. 3,) upon whose more gross corpo- 
real idolatry and harlotry they have more spiritually and hypocriti- 
cally refined. 

" By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the 
host of them by the breath of his mouth !" " He spake, and it was 
done /" By the same Word of the Lord, which is Christ, and by 
the same breath of his mouth, which is the Spirit of God, we are 
begotten again to a lively hope ; that is, by the same Word and 
Mighty Power of God our Creator, we believe ! and live ! We are 
his workmanship, and He is our Creator ! (Eph. ii. 10.) As a man 
cannot even enter into this earthly life, in which as soon as we be 
born we go astray, speaking lies, so much more a man cannot 
believe, that is, enter or be born into that eternal life in which we 
live in Christ the Righteousness of God ! Of both lives God is the 
Creator ; yea, the Lord, He is God, and besides him there is no other 
God, and especially the wicked one is not as God, able to create 
himself! 

As it is wicked and rebellious (Is.) to complain that this earthly 
life is the gift and creation of God, so it is much more wicked to 
rebel against the fact that faith, the entering into heavenly life, is 
His gift, and that they to whom it is given are his creation ! Where- 
fore it is not in the power of man to believe, as it is not in his power 
to create : he is not God ! 

What use? what good then is it, (says the proud and ignorant mind 
of fleshly man,) to preach the Gospel 1 if it is hot at all in the power 
of man to believe ? and if faith is (as it surely is) altogether and only 
the work, word and power of God ? Thou fool ! (Psalm.) What 
use ? what good then was it that God should speak the word and 
call the worlds into existence, if it was not at all in the power of the 
worlds to exist themselves ? But if God had not spoken the word 
they would never have been created ; and so also if Christ did not 
make the word of his gospel, namely, " Believe," to be heard, no 
one would or could be saved ! Therefore the preaching of the Gospel 
is to them that are saved, the Power of God, but to them that perish^ 
abiding in unrighteousness.) it is foolishness. When the dead, (and 
to do unrighteousness is to be dead,) when the dead hear the voice 
of Christ, they live : therefore it is that the Gospel is preached, (for 
it is the voice of Christ,) that they who are dead and whom he 
pleases to make alive, yea, only whom he pleases, may hear and 
live ! " The Son quickeneth whom he imll /" Therefore the Gospel 
of God is the word of God, it is the very Voice and Power of God I 
by which the worlds were made, by which the dead are made alive,, 
that is, believe ; and it is " according to the good pleasure of his 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 77 

ttJi/Z." It is the same word and Power of God by which all things 
were made, without any power to make themselves ; when he merely 
" spake, it was done ! he commanded and they stood fast !" 

It is therefore the most abominable and most audacious Atheism, 
to say that it is man, that wicked one, who if he only pleases, has 
power to believe ! that is, has power though he is dead and exists 
not spiritually, to create himself and enter into life, if he pleases ! 
This is that exaltation of sinful man (or the man of sin) above all 
that is called God, (merely called by courtesy, God,) which is spoken 
of by the Apostle ! (2 Thess. ii. 4.) This is his Time, in which he 
is now fully revealed ! But as the Lord God liveth, who verily is 
the Creator, the Time shall be no longer ! 

The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that 
hear shall live ! Therefore blessed be God, yea, for ever blessed be 
our God, for preaching his Gospel, for it is the voice of the Son of 
God, which raiseth the dead and maketh them alive ; which word, if 
it were not spoken and they did not hear, they never would live, 
there would be no salvation ! He speaks the word, and they hear, 
and believe, and live ! But why do not all hear ? because they 
are wickedly and maliciously rebellious, haters of God, and disobe- 
dient, that is, dead. And why do some of the rebellious and disobe- 
dient hear? because God will have mercy and give them ears to 
hear ; it is everlasting mercy ! " yea, upon the rebellious also, that 
the Lord God may dwell among, that is, in them /" When they 
believe, they enter into life ; they are born, and verily they are born 
" not of the will of the J/esh, nor of the will of man, but of God,^^ 
for it is only God who is merciful, who hath good will towards man 
and will save many ! So he who believes is born of God and is a 
child of God, and he can joyfully praise God and give glory to him, 
saying. Blessed art thou O God, my God, for to Thee I owe my 
existence in Christ, thou hast created me and not I myself, thanks, 
thanks be to Thee, O my Father and my Creator, Glory be only to 
Thee, O My God, by thy great favour I am what I am ! 

Yea, let God's children who believe in his name, his Power, his 
Grace, his Righteousness, even in Him, for all this is Him, let 
them know and love the Truth, (and God will give them understand- 
ing and the Spirit of a sound mind,) lest they be wise in their own 
conceits, lest they fall into the error of the wicked, and not acknow- 
ledge God to be the Creator of all things in heaven and in earth. 
For the time now is when men will not endure sound doctrine, 
(2 Tim. iv. 3,) but it is the foundation and corner-stone of their 
religion to deny that God is the Creator, that He is God alone ! 
Man of sin says that he is as God, that he is creator, and creates 
himself into the kingdom of heaven (that is, he believes and can 
believe) if he only pleases, according to the pleasure of his will ! 
Such are the strong delusions which God in his just indignation has 
sent upon the earth, (even upon the religious world, because they 
received not the truth in the love of it,) that Satan has both seduced 
men to overthrow God's holy law of right and wrong, and set up in 
its stead all sorts of vain and foolish laws, and fanciful criterions of 



78 THE GOSPEL OP GOD* 

good which they have invented, and has also led them utterly and 
altogether, and withal boldly daringly and confidently to deny God the 
Creator, and set up sinful man as God ! and all this is done under the 
very name and pretence of being very zealous for God and serving 
him ! This time has been foretold, its limits are marked out, and 
the day is close at hand that it shall be no longer : yea, let not the 
man of sin, let not the false prophets and teachers of his lies think 
to go on much longer, for God hath confirmed by an oath the cer- 
tainty of the approaching end of all these abominations. He causeth 
his servant to swear that as the Lord liveth this Time shall be no 
longer ! 

Let the elect and beloved child of God, to whom it is given to 
believe in his Name, know that God is the Creator, that he has a 
family in heaven, and will add to them from out of the earth, (Jude, 
V. 22,) and also from out of the sea, out of which, as the Prophet 
Isaiah has said, he will save a multitude ; and they are all elect : 
they are his workmanship, it is according to the good pleasure 
of his will, according to his Grace, and his everlasting purpose 
of love ! Thus it is. He who made heaven and all that is therein, 
and the Earth and all that is therein, and the Sea and all that 
therein is ! The only reason why Michael is his archangel, is 
because God has made him such ; the only reason why his holy 
angels are holy and in heaven, is because God has made them 
such and placed them there ; and let him know also, that the only 
reason why a sinner is or will be saved out of the Earth, and out of 
the Sea, why he will hear and believe, is only because it is the gra- 
cious will and pleasure of God the Creator to have everlasting mercy 
upon him ! because He giveth him life, giving him to believe, having 
chosen him before the foundation of the world, to dwell in him ! All 
is merely according to his pleasure ! '■'•'for thy pleasure they are and 
were created /" (Rev. iv. 11.) God is God alone ! 

This first and most glorious Name of God in Christ, cannot be 
given to another, nor be arrogated by creatures of any kind, much 
less by exceedingly sinful creatures ! it is this, " God who created !" 
But they who daringly affirm and imagine that man of sin can give 
himself life if he pleases, can raise himself from the dead, can create 
himself into life, can hear and believe, if he an evil and disobedient 
creature pleases, they affirm and imagine that he being exceedingly 
evil is as God ! And thus the doctrine of the Sea and of the Earth, 
(of the philosophical world and of the religious world,) astonishing as 
it is, is truly one and the same ; showing that without knowing it, 
(for they are blind,) they belong to and serve one same master, 
Satan. To such an end his own wisdom and knowledge has led the 
earthly wise man. (Is. xlvii. 10.) The Sea believes that the worlds 
created themselves and are self-existent, and the Earth (the religious 
professors) believe the same of a creation far more exceedingly 
glorious and eternal ! iV-gainst the wicked doctrine of both (which 
is the doctrine of devils) God testifies : the doctrine of both, is one 
and the same, although they so bitterly hate each other, and fight 
and are divided, yet Satan's kingdom is not divided, it is one ; his 



THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 79 

divinity and morality is one, the doctrines of the Sea and the Earth 
are one, and the whole of it is, the exalting of the power &nd wisdom 
and goodness and virtue of a wicked and malicious beast, and denying 
and rejecting the Power and Goodness and Mercy and Salvation of 
God ! Therefore, in preaching and testifying against them both, he 
who writes these words preaches and testifies, that is, sets his feet 
upon both of them, placing one foot upon the sea and the other upon 
the earth, and cries against them with a loud voice, and thus the 
Scriptures are fulfilled, which cannot be broken ! 

Their doctrine is one, and the source is one, it is the pride and 
rebellion of Satan ! To deny God's election of Grace, to dare to 
deny his sole Power and Will in creating by the voice of his word 
the living and believing man, is Atheism. The Sea denies that he is 
the Creator of the worlds, that is its Atheism ; the Earth denies that 
he is the Creator of heaven, and that is its Atheism ! And this 
denial of the Power of God they call religion and piety ! Most 
astonishing depths of Satan ! wonderful all-deceivableness of un- 
righteousness ! that Atheism and Idolatry of the worst and foulest 
description should pass off before men for truth and faith and love 
and zeal and obedience to God ! It is the highest possible pitch to 
which wickedness could attain, and the highest possible pitch of 
deceit and pride and hypocrisy ! 



END OF PART I. 



A LITTLE BOOK OPEN. 



PART THE SECOND. 



CONTAINING 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST 



TO HIS SERVANTS. 



" Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and 
keep those things which are written therein ; for the time is at hand." 



FROM THE HAND OF JOHN WHITEHEAD. 



11 



A LITTLE BOOK OPEN. 



PART THE SECOND. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The revelation of Jesus Christ does not refer to the events of this 
world, nor to the revolutions and convulsions of men; these things 
which are of great dignity in the eyes of men, are of no more real 
importance than the fightings of dogs over a bone. They relate only 
to the humble events which concern the truth and doctrine of Christ, 
and his elect, a people unknown to the world : these are things 
which, though little in the eyes of men, God careth for. 

If this book of revelation had contained a prophecy of human events, 
then it would have required a study of human history to understand 
it, all which history is written by the spirit of falsehood and vain 
glory. God does not send his people to such falsehood, in order that 
they may understand his truth. 

When Christ Jesus was in humiliation on the earth, greatly suf- 
fering in the body which had been prepared for him, for the ungodly, 
though he was and is the Power of God, and upheld all things ; 
though it was he who had given Augustus his empire, and gave him 
whatever wisdom he had to rule, yet he took no part in, and be- 
stowed no notice whatever upon the things of the world. So also 
the Scriptures of the new testament which are the word of his mouth, 
bestow no notice whatever upon the events of the world. So also 



84 INTRODUCTION. 

this book of revelation and prophecy bestows not the least notice 
upon the things and glories of this world, nor stops to record the 
roaring and fluctuations of the sea, that is, the world. It is of very- 
little importance to those who look not at the things which are seen, 
but at the things which are not seen, to know who were the great 
men, and what were the great events of that which perisheth for 
ever. Of these things the people of God, (not many of whom are 
wise men after the flesh,) generally know very little ; but with what 
relates to the preaching of the Gospel, with the many pretences to 
the truth of God in which they are sought to be ensnared, with those 
who give themselves out to be possessors of the truth, these poor 
people are often better acquainted than the wise and learned of this 
world. These are things which come home to the humble and igno- 
rant after this world : these a£e things God's people know well ; 
these are things which make them stagger and be at their wits' end ; 
these are things in which they want light and instruction ; and these 
are the very things in which God in his mercy and compassion to- 
wards them, has graciously given them light and instruction, even by 
this sure word of prophecy. Herein the wisdom and goodness of 
God is to be seen. Here is wisdom. 

If any should enquire why the greater part of Christendom is 
passed over with but slight notice, and that the professors in England 
and America have more notice bestowed upon them, let him reflect, 
that when the account of the falling away and the first beast is given, 
then all the religious history of all the people settled down under the 
gross and external abominations of the beast, is given once for all, 
even if their time was to be prolonged for ages and ages. The 
worship of the first beast is open, external, and not to be mistaken ; 
no child of God could be deceived by it, or for a moment suppose 
such Christians to be servants of the most high God. But in Pro- 
testant countries the abomination of the beast is veiled and covered 
under deeper disguise and more spiritual refinements : in England 
and America, the worship of the beast and its image is spiritual 
wickedness, so deceitful and so all deceivable, that if it were possible 
they would deceive the very elect. All their false doctrine is wrapped 
up in Scripture language, and pretended to be derived with great 
reverence from the word of God : in these countries Satan is trans- 
formed into an angel of light, and they pretend to hate and abjure 
the beast, while all their churches are harlots, painted up in their 
own works and admiring their own garments, and all seated upon 
the same foundation, viz. man and his piety and his good-doing. 
They answer to Judah ; while the more gross idolaters of the Roman 
and Greek churches answer to Israel or Samaria. Now, though 
Judah had a great zeal against external idolatry, while Israel openly 
set up a false worship, yet it was by Judah, with all its apparent 
purity, that our Lord was crucified. 

Therefore God, the only wise God has given, once for all, the 
history of the more gross and not to be mistaken abominations. 



INTRODUCTION. 



85 



under the revelation of the first beast, which arose first an undis- 
guised beast ; and he has more fully opened and exposed the deeper, 
darker, more spiritual and more deceivable refinements of that beast 
which kept rising after the first, in a new form, disguised and looking 
" like a lamb.^^ This is the beast which ascendeth out of the bot- 
tomless pit of the earth, out of the depths of the profound whoredoms 
of earthly religious men ; this is the beast which is exalted as the 
doer of good, in the place of the Holy One ; this is the son of 
perdition ; the whole body and collection of whose worshippers is 
called spiritually a city, even Sodom and Egypt, and this beast is 
the Protestant earth and body of earthly worshippers, who call them- 
selves the pious the godly and the evangelical. 

Here are two nations of the world, the Catholics and the Protest- 
ants, whom God has taken and chosen out of all the people of the 
world, to whom alone of all the nations he has given his word of 
truth, and both of them have utterly perverted, despised, set at 
naught and trampled upon his truth ! The first and by far the largest 
number have done this at an early period, openly and boldly ; but 
the last, the Protestant professors, have done the same gradually, 
deceitfully, and with hypocritical falsehood, pretending to love Him 
and to be obedient to all his word ! Both of them have surpassed all 
other nations in evil doing, in hatred and covetousness, so that the 
name in which they glory, viz. Christian, has come to signify a de- 
ceiver and a wicked man among the other nations. The first and 
largest of these two great divisions answers to Israel or Samaria, 
the smallest who have had the temple of God, even his elect among 
them, answers to Judah and Benjamin. The same course which 
those vineyards of God in former times pursued, has been acted over 
again in these last times, by those to whom alone above all other 
nations God hath given the knowledge of his truth ; showing plainly, 
even by facts, that the wickedness of man is the same in all ages ; 
that there is no hope at all in man, — no, not even when he is greatly 
blessed above all other men, not even when he has all truth and 
knowledge delivered to him ; showing plainly, that with every 
promise and inducement and teaching, men will not depart from evil 
and learn to do good; showing that if the world went on for endless 
ages yet it would only be the same scene of villany and hypocrisy, 
acted over and over again : also showing by woful and long expe- 
rience, that since there is no hope in man, if God himself had not, 
of his own mercy and pleasure, reserved a remnant, no flesh should 
be saved ! 

Let not these two nations of men expect to escape because God 
has suffered their wickedness so long ; for they see before their eyes 
at this very day, a former people who also like them possessed the 
knowledge of his truth and yet loved unrighteousness, who, like them, 
neither did righteousness themselves, and would not receive the 
righteousness of God, — they see them now, monuments of his right- 
eous vengennce, scattered over the face of the earth and proclaiming 



86 INTRODUCTION. 

to all men, that they who, being taught of God, do refuse instruction 
and turn not to Him, but do unrighteousness, they shall not by any 
means go unpunished. He who has scattered Israel will gather 
them again, for they will repent and turn to God, God will turn 
them and give them repentance ; and the Gentiles, who have done 
worse than Israel, will be cast off and punished more terribly than 
they have been. 



THE 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



The Book of the Revelations contains a clear history of the false- 
hood and abomination which should prevail in the Christian world, 
and which should pass under the name of the " Christian Religion," 
while it was all the time opposed to the truth of Christ and to his 
doctrine. The history of the Church of Christ is revealed, from the 
day of Pentecost down to the end of all things ; and it is revealed 
how, after the first 700 years of the Christian era, falsehood and 
abomination should prevail over the truth, and the church of Christ, 
the elect of God, should be trampled under foot, and not be recognised 
nor known in the world, until the time allotted for the prevalence of 
false churches (which time is 1260 years) should be no more. In 
all this time the history of God's church is distinctly given and pre- 
served, in the midst of the falsehood and abomination by which the 
truth should be overcome and trampled to the ground: and that 
falsehood and abomination is most clearly revealed, and also the 
various names and shapes it should assume. 

The kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and the history of 
God's church and people is not to be found or traced in any ecclesi- 
astical history, or records of the various secits. No church or sect 
or religious corporation that has ever existed in all this time, has 
been a church of God ; his people have been scattered among all the 
tribes and kindreds of the earth, that is, among all the sects of the 
religious world. Thus the heavenly Jerusalem, the holy city of 
God's elect, has been trodden under foot by the Gentiles, and the 
truth of God, when preached, has only been preached as it were in 
sackcloth, during all this time of 1260 years. 

Mournful and desolate as the condition of Zion has been all this 
time, (for the abomination of false doctrine and human righteousness, 
that swine's flesh offering, has made altogether desolate,) yet God, 
the only wise God has, by this very means, (by this long remaining 
of the heavenly Jerusalem in the wilderness, that is, in desolation,) 
preserved the world from being destroyed, and at the same time has 
preserved his truth in the world, by which many (a multitude that 
no man can number) have been saved. For, so soon as the elect of 
God shall be manifest in the world, and the power and glory and 
beauty of Christ shall be manifest in them, they will be hated by all 
men ; brother and sister and children and parents will rise up against 



88 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

them and deliver some of them to death ; there will be a general 
confederacy and alliance against them, in order utterly to destroy 
them from the face of the earth ; and then will Christ appear in the 
clouds of heaven, to deliver them and destroy his enemies. This 
malicious warfare and this great destruction and terrible vengeance, 
would have taken place before the appointed time, and before all 
God's people had been gathered in, if God had not hidden his truth 
in the wilderness, and if the church of Christ had been manifest 
before the time which was appointed to be fulfilled. 

CHAPTER I. 

V. 4. " John to the seven churches which are in Asia.''^ Asia 
Minor signifies the whole Christian earth, or Christendom ; the elect 
of God have been cities in the midst of this earth ; the rivers of 
Asia Minor signify Christian nations. Asia here spoken of, is a very 
small part of the whole globe, and so also Christendom, or the 
Christian part of the earth, has been and is but a very small portion 
of the whole population of the world. This chapter is introductory 
to a general history or view of the elect people of God which is 
revealed in the two following chapters. The seven churches in Asia^ 
are the elect people of God in the midst of the Christian or profess- 
ing world, (called Asia, or the earth,) from the first preaching of the 
Gospel down to the present day.* 

THE GENERAL HISTORY. CHAPTERS H. IH. 

The second and third chapters contain a brief summary of the 
general history of God's people, at seven different periods at which 
they lived. This general summary is first given, previous to a more 
full and more particular revelation of events happening to each, which 
are afterwards revealed in succeeding chapters. 

V. 1st to 7th. The first believers are called the Church at Ephe- 
sus; even at this early period the church of God had enemies and 
false adherents in and around them, so that the tares choked the 
wheat. John lived in this church when he wrote this Revelation. 

V. 8th. The second church is Smyrna : at this period of the 
Christian era, the ten distinct persecutions, events well known, took 
place : they are here called " tribulation, ten days ;" but in the midst 
of poverty and persecution, God's people were faithful unto death. 

V. 12th. The third church is Pergamos ; this being a city more 
in the heart of Asia than either Ephesus or Smyrna, (which are 
only on the edge,) shows that the profession of Christianity had 
advanced more in the world and spread to a greater extent ; the two 
first churches having been only on the outskirts, as it were, of the 
population of the world ; (for these two cities are on the seaboard, 

* That earthly men, earthly minded professors of earthly religion are called 
the " Earth," need surprise no one ; for even men themselves call those who are 
worldly and worldly minded the " World." 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 89 

or margin of Asia, that is, Christendom.) An increased corruption 
is shown to have arisen around the church of God : now at this 
period there are preachers who make a living and get money by 
preaching, and who preach for hire and honour ; this is the doctrine 
of Balaam. 

V. 18. The fourth Church is Thyatyra : in this age the esta- 
blishment of an earthly hierarchy begins, and that whoredom begins 
which consists in thinking to please God by human deeds, by doing 
somethinof : this is that Religion which is called the Harlot or the 
Whore. But it is begun gradually and seducingly, Jezebel the 
whore of Rome now first shows herself, seducing to commit forni- 
cation ; that is, to think to obtain a union with Christ by giving 
something : this is fornication ; and to think to entice or attract 
God's favour by the robe of human works is whoredom.* This 
way of Jezebel had been prepared by the false preachers of the 
church preceding, who had begun to teach fornication, that is, to 
teach that a union with Christ was to be obtained by purchase, by 
the money of praying, &;c. 

The Failing away now takes place : (that is, falling from Grace, 
which is heaven, all the people of God became earthly, they fell 
from heaven : which falling away consists in being justified by the 
law, getting righteousness by our doing good. Gal. v. 4.) The 
church of the Beast rises up in this age, which rise of the Beast is 
afterwards particularly described in a separate chapter. Thyatyra, 
lying almost in the centre of Asia Minor, shows that Christianity 

* When men preach, saying-, that if you do something-, if you pray, read the 
Bible, go to Church, &c. &c. then you shall be saved, you will be a Christian and 
have the salvation of Christ, they are fornicators; these conditions are a money 
which men think to pay to be united with Christ, for that union is our salvation; 
for this is fornication and it is most abominable. Christ takes his people, whom 
he will, into union with himself " without money and without price," for nothing-. 
The purchase is on his side ; he has purchased them for himself, as his bride. 

When men preach that if you are very pious and religious, if you do many good 
works, if you labour to be righteous and not commit sin, then you will please God, 
then he will love you, they are whoremongers, this is whoredom : for it is imagin- 
ing to obtain God's love and favour by putting on decorations and garments by 
which to please him. God is only pleased in Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God ; his 
offering, his work, his daily sacrifice is alone acceptable and well pleasing to God. 
All other works and Righteousness but his, are abomination and abominable. 

When men preach that you are under the law, and united with Christ at the 
same time, bound to do good by the law, and yet being perfectly good and right- 
eous in Christ, this is Adultery : for it is being married to Christ while the first 
husband is yet living, in full authority over you. It is abominable adultery to think 
of bringing forth fruit to God by the law, and of bringing forth fruit by Jesus 
Christ at the same time I This is Adultery. 

In the early ages of Christianity Satan did not think of seducing men out of the 
right way by adultery, because the truth was too well established that Christ alone 
was the Saviour, and that the Law was not a helpmate in this salvation : accord- 
ingly he began his seductions by teaching fornication, pretending that God was so 
very good and gracious that men had only to offer him a little bribe, and then if 
they would only give even but a little trifle, they would be saved by Jesus Christ. 
The guilt and abomination of Adultery was reserved for this last and adulterous 
generation. And inasmuch as an adulteress is woree than a harlot, so the protest- 
ant churches are vi'orse than the harlot of Rome. 
12 



90 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

had spread into the midst of the earth which it should occupy : and 
it being a city famous for the manufacture of purple dye, it is with 
the more force and justice applied to represent the age when the 
purple diadem of Rome was first set up. This period brings us 
down to the first seven hundred years of the Christian era, to the 
week of centuries spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, in the midst of 
which week the abomination of false doctrine was set up, and the 
daily, constant work and sacrifice of Christ, his pure and unceasing 
ofTering and oblation of his own religious work, ceased to be offered, 
and instead thereof the sacrifice of the Mass, the offering of human 
deeds and human righteousness, was set up. This falling from Grace, 
which is a falling from heaven, which now began, has continued in 
Christendom, or the earth, ever since, for it should continue 1260 
years, as was revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ and his prophets 
and Apostles before ever it began. During this whole week God 
confirmed his Everlasting Covenant of the Gospel with many, even 
with multitudes who were his people, his hidden ones ; and therefore, 
notwithstanding the gradually rising and constantly increasing power 
and glory of the false church around them, yet the people of God 
enjoyed, for 700 years, the full light and glory of the Gospel Cove- 
nant, and were full of might by the Power of the Holy Ghost, though 
not recognised in the world, nor to be heard of in the religious 
annals and ecclesiastical chronicles of those or any days. Such a 
glory and power and blessing and full assurance of understanding, 
and out-pouring of God's spirit, never, since this 700 years, till now, 
have the elect of God enjoyed, or even suspected it was to be en- 
joyed.* 

Chap. 3, v. 1. The next age of Christianity described by the 
Lord Jesus Christ, is the Church of Sardis. This consists of God's 
elect people scattered up and down in the Church of Rome, and 
overcome by the Beast ; it carries us as far as the period of what is 
called the Reformation, when they " had a name that they lived,'^ 
which name and renown they have to this day. 

V. 7. The next period is the Church in Philadelphia : this com- 
prehends that time which succeeded some time after the schism or 
separation from the Church of Rome, when the truth of God was 

* The Prophet Daniel has brought down his prophecy, from his own day exactly 
to this very period, in the four last verses of his ninth chapter. 

In the 25th verse the Prophet foretells the time which would elapse from the 
second building of the Temple to the coming of Christ, viz. 483 years, or 69 weeks, 
a day designating a year. 

In the 26th verse, he foretells the death and suffering of Christ for his people, and 
the destruction of the Temple and the ruin of the Jewish nation by the Roman 
Prince Titus, which followed shortly after the death of Christ, when there was in- 
deed a flood of horror and desolation to the end of the war. 

In the 27th verse he foretells the events of the first 700 years (or week of centu- 
ries) of the Christian era ; viz. that God would confirm his covenant in Christ for 
this period, but that in the midst of this 700 years the Abomination and corruption 
of falsehood should be set up, and that this would make desolate (as it has done) : 
but a consummation, an end of this long time of desolation is detei'mined, which 
now is nigh at hand. Thus. Daniel in these verses brings down the prophecy to 
the church of Thyatyra, when the Abomination was set up. 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 91 

known and possessed by God's people, especially in England, to an 
extent which the first reformers had not known. But greatly as 
the people of God at this period were blessed, yet even they also 
were overcome by the Beast, for his time was not yet ended : 
though they were out of the Church of Rome, yet another Beast, 
different from the Romish Church, and more like a lamb than it, 
with a very numerous name, had now begun to arise out of the Earth, 
as is particularly described in a subsequent chapter. The people of 
God were overcome and mixed up with the Beast which arose out 
of the Earth, or persecuted and slain when they attempted to escape 
from its bonds ; for " it exercised all the poicer of the first beast.^^ 
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth it was given to the harlot, or church 
of England, to overcome the saints of God, so that many were sin- 
cerely joined to it, and many were slain or imprisoned who attempted 
to escape from it. 

But at this period, notwithstanding the power of the Beast, God's 
two witnesses, the Law and the Gospel, had not finished their testi- 
mony, they still prophesied, though in sackcloth ; the Beast which 
now was rising had not yet overcome and slain them as it should do, 
and has now done in this day ; the elect of God, this Church at 
Philadelphia, held fast to the truth, they had " a little strength" 
(v. 8.) This is the brightest period that occurs since the falling 
away in the week of seven hundred years. The people of God did 
not deny the name of Christ, " The Lord our Righteousness," 
for that is his name ! They held fast to this glorious name and kept 
his word. Therefore it is promised to this Church (v. 10) that they 
should be kept from the hour of temptation which is about to come 
upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the Earth ; thus 
showing that a time of trial or temptation was coming upon the 
Earth (that is, the professors of religion) to try them. Which 
accordingly did come after this period, as is fully and particularly 
related in succeeding chapters of this wonderful Revelation. To this 
church Christ first says, what he said to none of the former churches, 
" Behold I come quicMy," showing that the next and last period is 
close to the time of his glorious coming. 

V. 14. This next and last period in the history of the churches, 
is the Church in Laodicea : It consists of all the elect of God in this 
day, and since the hour of temptation which has tried the Earth. 
Notwithstanding the abominable heresies and falsehoods which have 
overspread the Earth, (the religious world and all the various sects,) 
notwithstanding the gross delusions and lies which the Earth has 
swallowed up greedily, and which Satan has poured out of his mouth 
like a flood, they have not swallowed them, nor have they belonged 
to the Confederacies and good-doing Societies of the Earth ; they 
have believed in the name of the Son of God, " The Lord our 
Righteousness," and in his Righteousness and his only ; they have 
trusted in God's Everlasting Love, and joyed solely in his Election 
of Grace ; this has been their constant theme and constant joy, and 
the Earth has been tormented with their doctrine, despising them 
and calling^ them Antinomians and licentious in their doctrine. 



92 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Though there have been wicked men who have taken up these doc- 
trines, and the covetous and idolaters have been joined with them, 
yet among them have been the Elect of God ; these outcast people 
are the Church of Laodicea. Their doctrine has been an utter 
horror and abomination to the religious world, the children of the 
bondman.* But though despised and reviled by the Earth, and 
abhorred by the pious and evangelical adulterers, that is, who being 
married to the Law, pretended to be united to Christ, yet they have 
not despised nor thought lightly of themselves. Seeing more clearly 
the truth of their own doctrine, from the manifest falsehood and 
fleshliness of the Religion of the earthly men, they have been puffed 
up and have triumphed vaingloriously. To perceive and to cry out 
against falsehood and lying doctrines, has been to them instead of all 
truth ; they have been puffed up with knowledge, and said they were 
rich and increased in goods, (v. 17.) Boasting and vain glory has 
been their characteristic, joined also with such a life as has made 
the enemy triumph. They have had no strength, but been overcome 
by the devil, and been given over to do unrighteousness ; thus have 
they been spued out of his mouth by the Lord whom they have so 
greatly dishonoured by their pride and self-conceit and folly. 

Laodicea is the most remote and most inland city of the seven 
cities of Asia, showing that this city of the living God (for verily 
they only have been the people of God in these last days) is the last 
and most remote of the seven churches or cities of God's elect people, 
which have been successively in the midst of the earth of professors, 
in the different ages of the Christian era. None of these seven 
cities or churches of God's people have been visible and separate, 
and been cities set upon a hill, glorifying God and unmixed with 
human religion, except the three first, Ephesus, Smyrna and Perga- 
mos. To the churches which come after these three, " what they 
have," or, " the things which remain,''^ are spoken of; showing that 
what now they possessed and knew, v/as only as it were a remnant 
or a part : " things which remain," are not spoken of to the three 
first churches, for they had an unction from the Holy One, and knew 
all things. False and harlot churches have, since the first three, 
passed among men for Christian churches, and falsehood and lies for 
the " Christian Religion," and heathen, wicked people have passed 
for Christians before the world, while the elect of God, the city of 
God, his Jerusalem, has been trodden under foot, and been cast out 
and hated and persecuted in the sight of the harlot churches of the 
Earth ; fiDr a fixed time, (namely, 1260 years,) power has been given 
to the Beast, and this imposition of the devil, of his servants for 
servants of God, of his doctrines for doctrines of God, and of his 
churches for churches of God, has been suffered and permitted, and 
power has been given to them to overcome the saints. But this 
time shall now be no longer, saith the Lord who liveth for ever ! 

* All the other churches are spoken of as a city, but this as a people, " the La- 
odiceans," showings their miserable situation, like a city or collection of people 
without walls ; it is a vineyard, the walls or hedges of which are broken down and 
burnt up. 



THE REVELATION OP JESUS CHRIST. 93 

CHAPTERS IV., V. 

After this general summary of the churches and their condition, 
John has a view of heaven opened, and the book of the revelation of 
events which should come to pass in the world can only be opened 
by Christ Jesus the Lamb of God ; none other is able to make this 
wonderful Revelation, but God in Christ, and none can open it but 
him ! therefore this book is called the Revelation of Jesus Christ. 
It differs in an extraordinary manner from all former prophesy, be- 
cause (as will be seen by all those to whom God shall give under- 
standing) it contains a continued, uninterrupted and connected history 
of all the great and principal events which relate to God's people, 
from the very first preaching of the Gospel, on the day of Pentecost, 
to the end of all things. It is not a prophesy of one event only, but 
it is a complete Book of Revelation, a relation of future events given 
ages before the time, and relating them in the very order in which 
they came to pass. 

When the Lamb took the book, the whole company in heaven fell 
down and worshipped him, ascribing to Him glory and honour and 
power, (ch. v. 8.) That which excited admiration in heaven itself, 
is well worthy our praise and admiration and worship, here on earth. 
Let us therefore ascribe all glory to Jesus the Christ, the Lamb of 
God, as we read and understand. A peculiar blessing is pronounced 
upon those who hear and keep the words of this prophecy ; for many 
will not hear, but will reject them to their own everlasting confu- 
sion. 

CHAPTER VI. 

V. 1, 2. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard, as it 
were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying-. Come and see. And I 
saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown 
was given unto liim : and he went forth conquering and to conquer. 

Here is shown the first beginning of the Gospel, which began to 
be published on the day of Pentecost. As warriors went to battle 
on horses, so also a horse is used in Scripture to signify the energy 
and going forth of the spiritual soldier. Here it is a white horse, 
signifying it was the pure unsullied Gospel which now was sent forth ; 
it was to conquer, as also it did. The first age of Christianity is 
here described, and the progress and success of the simple Gospel, 
in the time of the Church in Ephesus. 

V. 3, 4. And when he had opened the second seal, T heard the second beast say. 
Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red ; and power was 
given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should 
kill one another : and there was given unto him a great sword. 

This is the second age of the Christian era, corresponding with 
the Church of Smyrna. Under the figure of a red horse is repre- 
sented the bloody persecutions which the followers of the Gospel 
now suflTered at various times and from different princes ; they are 
called the ten persecutions ; it is the tribulation of ten days, revealed 
to the Church of Smyrna in the second chapter. 



94 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

V. 5, 6. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, 
Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse ; and he that sat on him had a 
pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, 
A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny ; and 
see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 

This is the third period, corresponding with the Church in Perga- 
mos. Here is represented under the figure of a black horse, the first 
successful beginning of the preaching of darkness and false doctrine. 
The pair of balances, show what that false doctrine consisted in, viz. 
selling, weighing out as it were by scales in the balance the Gift of 
God, which gift is eternal life in Jesus Christ. Now first began to 
prevail that false, lying and abominable preaching which says, (though 
with much plausible disguise and stoutly denying that it means what 
it says,) " you must first do this or that, (pray, seek, read the Bible, 
go to church, &c.) and then, if you do this you shall be saved !" 
Thus saying, if a man gives something then God will give something : 
this is selling and buying. Thus they make the blessed Gospel of 
God a matter of bargain and purchase. These are " the balances of 
deceit,^'' spoken of in other places of the Scripture. This is the 
doctrine of Balaam, which in the former chapter the Church of 
Pergamos was said to be infected with. Such preachers put this 
stumbling block of fornication before the children of God as Balaam 
did to the people when they were just on the threshold of the pro- 
mised country, and thereby destroy they many souls who are seduced 
and destroyed and never enter in. It is appropriately called fornication, 
for fornication is obtaining that by money and purchase which ought 
only to be got by lawful marriage ; this is fornication ; union by 
purchase and giving gifts, and not by marriage. So they teach that 
we must first give something (however little it be) in order to enter 
into union with Christ ! 

" A measure of wheat for a penny ^ and three measures of harley 
for a penny.'''' By wheat and barley are signified the blessings of 
the Gospel, both great and small, which constitute that blessed spi- 
ritual bread which feeds the hungry. By a penny is signified the 
paltry little doings of man, which it was preached must be paid or 
done in order to get (that is, to buy) the bread and life of the Gospel. 
It was now, in this age, that gospel life was preached as being 
conditional, though to disguise the atrocious wickedness of such a 
fornicating bargain, the condition, the purchase, was made very little 
and trifling, viz. only a penny ! As if God, who would not sell his 
exceeding rich Grace and goodness for a great deal, — as if he would 
sell it for a very little ! 

But, though the mystery of iniquity was already working, God 
hindered (or let) and the truth of Christ was yet manifest in the world, 
■ there was yet oil and wine, that is, the elect of God still possessed 
the full anointing of the Spirit of God, and the pure wine of the 
Gospel unmixed with water ; these were not to be hurt by the false 
teachers of earthly doctrines, for He, even Christ, hindered, until 
power was given to the Beast, and he that is Christ was taken out 
of the way to wait at God's right hand until the time should come 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 95 

when he would again take to himself his great power. (2 Thess. 
ii. 7.) 

V. 7, 8. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth 
beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse ; and his name 
that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him : and power was given unto 
them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and 
■with death, and with the beasts of the earth. 

Here now arrive in this next period, (which corresponds with the 
Church in Thyatira,) the fatal and dreadful effects of the falsehood 
begun to be preached in the preceding period. Now instead of the 
Gospel, which is life, there is Death. Instead of the preaching of 
the complete remission of sins, and deliverance from the law and 
from condemnation, there is the preaching of death. Hell, that is, 
condemnation and torment and suffering and fear, follows this preach- 
ing. The preaching of death is the preaching of the Law, for the 
Law slays us and we die. (Rs. vii. 9.) The horse is said to be 
pale from the paleness of countenance and woe and misery of those 
who are sincerely labouring under the law. The horse signifies the 
preaching which now went forth ; and him that it carries signifies 
what was preached, and his name was Death ; that is, it was no 
longer the name of the Son of God, (The Lord our Righteousness,) 
which was preached, but it was Death ; man's righteousness, man's 
obedience to the Law. Hell followed with ; that is, condemnation 
and darkness and torment and sin accompany such a ministration, 
which is also called by the Apostle the " ministration of deaths It 
was now that the Beast arose from the sea, (as is related afterwards 
in a separate chapter.) Now the hierarchy of earthly religion began, 
and the harlot church, Jezebel, spread forth her seductions : justly 
and appropriately called a harlot, which every church and every 
preaching or religion is where the Righteousness of God alone is 
not alone taught and set forth. Because to imagine to please God 
by any other Righteousness than that alone of Jesus Christ, and to 
put on other robes than those of his righteousness, is to do as a 
harlot does, viz. to paint the face and put on ornaments and dress 
whereby to please and excite attention and give satisfaction. This, 
viz. the dressing of human righteousness, is the Abomination, which 
though highly pleasing to man is pronounced to be Abomination to 
God. (Luke xvi. 15.) 

But He in whom alone God is well pleased was not yet taken out 
of the way, (2 Thess. ii. 7,) he was still on the earth, in the flesh, 
to them that received him, he, and he alone working righteousness ; 
God hath not yet caused this sacrifice and oblation to cease. (Dan. 
ix. 27.) The Beast, viz. the Church of Rome, had not yet acquired 
complete dominion : the power it was afterwards to have was not yet 
fully given it : power was now only given it over the fourth part of the 
Earth, (that is, over a great proportion of the professing community, 
but not over the saints of God,) to kill those earthly professors vith 
sword (that is, the dreadful terror of the law) and loiih hunger (that 
is, a famine of the bread of life, the word of God) and with death 
(that is, the despair and agony of the consciousness of guilt and con- 



96 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

viction for sin) and with the beasts of the earth, (that is, with false 
and earthly doctrines of men by which souls are destroyed.) God's 
holy city of Thyatyra, that is, his chosen people in whom he dwelt, 
who had not the doctrine of Jezebel and had not known the depths of 
Satan, still enjoyed the full blessings of heaven, even the Grace of 
God, and were not yet fallen to earthly doctrines, were not yet over- 
come by the beast. 

V. 9, 10, 11. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the 
souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which 
they held : And they cried with a loud voice, saying. How long, O Lord, holy 
and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the 
earth ? 

The prophetic history of this period is still continued : the saints 
of God have been persecuted and slain by the Beast; here are the 
prayers of God's elect, " they cried with a loud voice." And shall 
not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto Him? 
He will avenge them speedily, as now will shortly be seen ! In verse 
11, it is shown that as there have been bloody persecutions, there 
are to be others yet. They were to rest for a season or Time, 
(which Time is now nearly fulfilled, and shall be no longer.) 

In the next verse we shall see the astonishing effects of the prayers 
of God's elect. As Elijah prayed there should not be rain on the 
earth, and it rained not for three years and a half, so now we shall 
see the next terrible event which happens, is also in like manner in 
reply to the prayers of the saints, whom God will avenge. Now it 
will be seen that because of the wickedness of men in putting to 
cruel deaths the saints of God, and because of their despising and 
rejecting the free, unconditional Gospel of the rich Gift of God, now 
God will reward them according to their works, and as they would 
not have life, he will give them up to death, to total spiritual death : 
and as they have despised and perverted the Gospel, they shall not 
have it any longer to despise, but it shall be taken away from the 
earth, and they shall have their own earthly doctrines and delusions 
instead. The same terrible judgment and awful sentence will now 
be inflicted and pronounced upon the Gentiles for their despising 
Christ, which for the very same wickedness was inflicted upon the 
Jews, viz. " Let them not come into Thy Righteousness /" They 
have loved their own righteousness and rejected the Righteousness 
of God, which is by the faith of Christ, and they shall have their 
own righteousness, and the Gospel of God shall be taken from them ! 

V. 12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a 
great earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon 
became as blood. 

Now this terrible judgment is accomplished. Here is the event of 
that falling away foretold by the prophets of old, and by the Apostles 
of Jesus Christ. 

It takes place as foretold by Daniel, in the midst of the first cen- 
tennial week after the Messiah was cut off for the sins of his people. 
It is total : and it will also be seen that there never has been a com- 
plete restoration of the Gospel since this falling away down to the 



THE REVELATION OP JESUS CHRIST. 97 

present day. God's elect, in the very best church since that of Thya- 
tyra, (viz. the Church in Philadelphia,) are declared to have had only 
" a little strength,'''' (ch. iii. 8.) And it must be so ; much as the pride 
of those who think they know every thing will rebel against it, for 
the sure word of prophecy has declared that this falling away and 
the power of false churches, should continue during the space of 
1260 years. 

The precise time when it began is not known, though it was in 
the midst of the first 700 years ; and God has wisely ordered this, 
by which the precise day and hour when it will be no longer cannot 
be known, for this, says the Lord Christ, " hioweth no man, but only 
my Father which is in heaven.'''' 

As God has shown that to enter into his Righteousness, yea, into 
eternal life, is by His Grace, by his free gift, by his especial favour, 
according to the good pleasure of his will, and not of him that will- 
eth ; and as God has made known that this immense Gift is given 
to whom he pleases only, and them he has chosen in Christ before 
the foundation of the world, — as He has shown that it is entirely his 
Gift by giving it, so now he will also show that it is entirely his Gift 
and just as He pleases, by not giving it ! (Wo to those wicked 
priests of Baal, who deceitfully say, " yes, it is his Gift,'''' and say, 
afterwards, that something must be paid for it !) 

" Lo ! there was a great earthquake ;" that is, a great shaking or 
change and revolution took place in the religious world, which is 
called the Earth. 

" The Sun became blacTc as sackcloth of hair ;" that is, the Gospel 
of light and joy (which is compared to the Sun and is called the Sun 
of Righteousness) was now darkened, and made a source of mourn- 
ing and wo : Christians were now to be known by sackcloth and 
ashes, and not by the oil of gladness and everlasting joys upon their 
head. The genius of the religion of this period is fully described by 
the word sackcloth, which became the covering of all who aimed at 
eminent sanctity of the flesh. 

" The Moon became as blood.^^ As the Sun which rules by day 
signifies the bright, glorious and gladsome Gospel, so the Moon 
(which rules by night) signifies the holy Law of God which is given 
for transgressors and the ungodly, to rule over darkness, to punish 
disobedience, and avenge all unrighteousness and ungodliness. (1 Tim. 
i. 9.) Blood signifies life, (as is said in Deuteronomy) : and now it 
was, that religious people (the Earth) sought life from the Law of 
God, and not by Jesus Christ, and thus the Moon (the Law) was 
turned into blood, that is, was represented as if it was the Gospel, as 
if it gave life, it was now preached as the source of life and salva- 
tion. The works and deeds and piety of men, their obediences to 
the Law, were now preached as if they were life and atonement, 
(that is, as blood) : Thus while the Gospel (the Sun) was darkened, 
hidden and totally obscured by the sackcloth covering of austere 
works of human righteousness, at the same time also the Law (the 
Moon) became " as hlood,^^ as if it were the means of life and of 
atonement. 
13 



98 TlIE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

V. 13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree castetb her 
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 

" The stars of heaven fell iinto the earth, <!^-c." That is, the chil- 
dren of God, those who had till now possessed the truth and followed 
sound doctrine, in the midst of error and falsehood surrounding them, 
now fell from heaven, that is, from the kingdom of Grace. They 
fell " to the earth,^^ that is, they became earthly, and followers of 
earthly, sensual, formal religion ; they became worshippers in the 
outer tabernacle of the Law, not entering into the holiest of all, into 
the presence of God, where he who believes has access by Jesus 
Christ, and is carried there by Him our Great anointed High Priest, 
This is to be in heaven, to be brought out of the earthly tabernacle 
into the holiest of all : to have peace with God and fellowship with 
him by Jesus Christ. They fell completely, like untimely figs shaken 
off by a mighty wind ; that is, they were overcome and shaken by 
the wind of earthly doctrine, and holding but slightly to the truth, 
like untimely figs to the fig tree, they did not hold fast their profes- 
sion of the truth of heaven, but fell from the doctrine of God to the 
earth, to false doctrine and to earthly human religion ; having begun, 
they did not endure to the end, nor stand fast in the faith, in having 
Christ to do all for them, they ceasing from all their works, doing 
nothing. This is so contrary to man, it is so unearthly a doctrine, 
that from the time any one receives the truth he will be strongly 
tempted to deny it and to fall from heaven to the earth ; all will be 
tried, and it will be seen who are like untimely figs and have no root 
and only endure for a while ; or, who endure to the end, being rooted 
and groimded in Love. 

V. 14. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together ; and every 
mount and island were moved out of their places. 

" The heaven departed:''^ that is, the doctrine of God's Grace was 
no longer taught or known on the earth, " as a scroll,'''' the word of 
God became shut up to the understandings of men, like a scroll rolled 
together ; the word of God was now a sealed book, a scroll rolled 
up, (Is. xiii. 9, 10 : xxxiv. 4,) which was no longer open and under- 
stood, as it had been. 

" Every mount, <S^c»''' These are the different churches or assem- 
blages of God's people which had existed hitherto ; they were called 
mounts, as elevated above the earth, which true disciples are ; and 
islands, because they are spots and resting places in the midst of the 
wide sea, (that is, the world.) But now all these churches of the 
faithful hitherto, were to be discovered no more, they had fled away ; 
the harlot Church now reigned alone, and all these little assemblages 
of believers disappeared, one great mountain alone predominated, 
(viz. the Church of Rome.) 

V. 15, 16, 17. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the. rich men, 

and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free- 
man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains : And said to 
the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on 
the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : For the great day of his wrath is 
come; and wiio shall be able to stand ? 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 99 

Now all, without exception, kings (that is, preachers and minis- 
ters who lorded over their flocks) and all, of whatsoever condition or 
eminence in the churches, both high and low, hid themselves: that 
is, instead of the joy and gladness of the Gospel, one universal prin- 
ciple of religious awe and terror prevailed over men's minds : they 
were in the condition of Adam who, when he fell, hid himself. They 
were now fallen from Grace ; fear not love now prevailed, and smit- 
ten by the law, and only knowing consciousness of guilt, they sought 
how they could escape from wrath : they hid themselves in dens, (Sfc. : 
that is, they sought to cover their nakedness of true Righteousness, 
with righteousness of their own working : they retired to dens and 
caves and monasteries and nunneries, and solitary retirements, as 
was literally the case, in order, as they said, to work out their salva- 
tion and escape from wrath. To such things they now looked for 
deliverance, they vainly called upon expedients such as these to hide 
them from the wrath of God. They thought they would be securely 
covered and protected by these their own doings and penances and se- 
vere observances ; a universal religious panic pervaded all Christendom, 
and men vied with each other in exhibiting their austere penances, 
and in proving the sincerity of their fear. The law of God is like a 
mountain weighing down a man and pressing upon him ; it is too 
heavy to bear. By faith this mountain is cast into the sea where it 
properly belongs ; now, men did not desire to be delivered from this 
mountain, but on the contrary were desirous that it should fall upon 
them, they thought it would cover them from wrath, they thought 
that by being under the law and taking the whole load of it upon 
themselves, they would be saved. Thus they fell from Grace like 
figs from the fig tree, " as many of you as are justified by the law, 
ye are fallen from Grace, Christ is become of no effect to you," says 
the Apostle. But they were different from the present generation, 
in that they called upon the whole mountain to cover them, whereas 
they of this last day propose for themselves much easier terms, they 
think to be hid from wrath by only a few grains of this enormous 
and heavy mountain ; they are arrived to such a pitch of insolent 
pride that they are determined they will enter into heaven on their 
own terms, in spite of God, by merel}'^ joining a temperance society, 
or distributing tracts, or teaching a Sunday School. 

The Lamb of God was now an object of terror instead of love, his 
wrath was feared, and he was hated: for all thev that love death 
hate and fear him. (Prov. viii. 36.) Death is condemnation and 
conviction of sin, which is upon all those who love their own works, 
cleaving to the Law which ministers death. 

" For the great day''^ — That the last day was immediately at hand, 
was a universal and prevalent idea, stimulating men to great self- 
mortifications and severe penances and self-denials. This idea pre- 
vailed at the early commencement of the Romish power, and continued 
unimpaired for a long time afterwards. Who shall be able to stand 
was the general cry, and to attain this ability was the general effort. 



100 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER VII. 



A short interruption in the course of this revealed history is now 
made, showing the numbers that will be saved in all this time of 
falling away and power of darkness, in which the Truth is trampled 
under foot and the beast prospers. 

V. 1. The servants of God are sealed ; all those who shall be 
saved in the time of 1260 years, are foreknown and sealed. These 
are those who shall be afterwards born in and after this Time of 42 
months, during which the Truth is driven into the wilderness, and 
-the saints of God, the holy and spiritual Jerusalem, will be trodden 
under foot by the Gentiles. They are elect of God, chosen and 
called and faithful ; they will believe, and they will be faithful ; they 
shall never perish, for they are created by the ever living God for 
his glory ; they have no hand in creating themselves ; they are kept 
by his power unto salvation ; they have no hand in keeping them- 
selves, they do not help in the least towards it, they only look to 
God, and he alone saves them. 

Great numbers of the tribes of Israel are sealed, who will be called 
of God, and who will believe by the word of God ; the number of 
them is expressed by thousands ; God knoweth the number. They 
are mentioned first before the Gentiles, for Judah is the olive tree, 
and the Gentiles who believe are grafted into that tree. For God 
hath only one people, and they are all the children of Abraham by 
faith in Christ Jesus ; they are all Jews, not outwardly, but inwardly ; 
circumcised not in the flesh, but in the spirit. (Rs. ii. 29.) 

V. 1.5. They are all before the throne of God ; whether living on 
the earth during the time of Zion's affliction, or afterwards, when 
the mountain of the Lord shall be exalted above the mountains, it 
makes no difference, they are all in robes made equally white by the 
blood of the Lamb; whether they knew all the goodness of God 
when they lived in the body, or whether they knew not all and 
rested not from their labours, it makes no difference now ; now when 
they are seen by the foreknowledge of God before his throne ; for 
now, being redeemed from the body they know his love which passeth 
knowledge ; now are they filled with all the fullness of God, though 
many of them when in the body had not faith enough to receive and 
enjoy the full extent of the riches of his grace and goodness. 

After this, the revealed history is resumed in the next chapter. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

V. 1 to 5. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in 
heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood 
before God ; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came 
and stood at the altar, having a golden censer ; and there was given unto him much 
incense, that he should offer it with tlie prayers of nil saints upon the golden altar 
which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the 
prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the 
angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth : 
and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 101 

It is here revealed that for a certain period of time there would be 
silence in heaven ; that is, a silence of the word of Grace : for a 
certain duration of the Roman hierarchy no sound was heard of 
the word of the kingdom of heaven. But after this period this 
silence was broken in upon, and the fire from God's altar burned in 
the hearts of several who were his chosen people, and they spake 
the truth as far as it was given them to know, and there were voices, 
and thunderings, and an earthquake, that is, a shaking or commotion 
and disturbance in the religious world, which is the earth. The 
prayers of the saints now ascended up to God, though they were 
mixed with smoke from the altar, that is, were offered up in legal 
darkness and obscurity. These prayers however availed, and the 
voices and earthquake were in consequence of them. These voices 
and earthquake and thunderjngs and lightnings include all the reli- 
gious commotions, and every voice of truth which was heard in the 
Romish church previous to what is called the Reformation, when the 
voices and thunderinors of Wickliffe, Huss and others were heard, and 
produced for the time an earthquake, or disturbance, alarm and 
trembling in the earth, the religious community. 

V. 6. And the seven angels, which had the seven trumpets, prepared themselves 
to sound. 

Seven angels now prepared to sound : by these the Lord Jesus Christ 
reveals to his people the events which will come to pass on the earth 
and which intimately concern his church and people, from the period 
of the Church of Rome, at which we are here arrived, down to his 
glorious appearance ; for when the seventh of these angels shall 
begin to sound, the Time of the dominion and power of the Beast 
will be no longer, and the mystery of God will be finished ; then 
Christ will reign, and falsehood, deception and wickedness, under the 
name of " The Christian Religion," will rpign no longer. 

V. 7. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with 
blood, and they were cast upon the earth : and the third part of trees was burnt 
up, and all green grass was burnt up. 

This is that event which is called the Reformation of Luther and 
Calvin. The Gospel they preached (which was not the Gospel) is 
described as " hail and Jire, mingled with blood ;" by hail and fire 
is signified the terrible law of God, both which came down from 
Mount Sinai when the law was given, and are those fearful terrors 
which accompany the Law. The hail and fire was " mingled with 
blood,'''' that is, the reformers taught also the atonement of Christ 
and salvation by his death ; this is the " blood'''' which was mingled 
with the hail and fire. The Romish church taught neither the Law 
nor the Gospel. While it was undisturbed by voices, there was 
silence in heaven. But now, the law, (" hail and jire ^''^ was mingled 
with gospel, {blood.) The effects of this Reformation are described : 
viz. " the third part of the trees of the Earth, and all green grass 
was burnt up." The trees of the earth are men of the earth ; a great 
proportion of religious persons " ivas burnt up," that is, were brought 
under the consuming power of God's fiery law, under conviction for 



102 THE REVELATION OP JESUS CHRIST. 

sin by the law. " All green grass was burnt t/p," these are the 
elect of God : the prophet says, " all flesh is grass ;^^ '•^ green''' sig- 
nifies those that had life, meaning God's people, who were now burnt 
up by the law, that is, brought under its consuming influence and 
suffered the distress and fear and destruction of their hopes which 
the law produces ; they were burnt up as well as earthly professors 
also, who were convicted in their own consciences as transgressors. 

This ministration of hail and fire mino-led with blood, or of the 
law of God mingled up with a view of Christ and his atonement, 
burnt up God's people, they were without strength, " Christ profited 
them nothing^'''' they were not delivered from the dominion and torment 
of sin, for they were under the law which is " the strength of sin,''^ 
and they suffered by the law distress and misery and constant con- 
viction of their guiltiness, which is being burnt up ; this state of 
distress and burning up, which is death, has ever since passed with 
the earth for an eminent condition of Gospel life : this is what they 
have called '■'• experience.'''' ^ The church of Christ at this period is 
called the church in Sardis, they thought this burning up was life, 
but it was death ; to them Christ says, " thou hast a name that thou 
livest, and art dead^''"' the name and renown of this church continues 
to this day, and men speak of this period as the " great and glorious 
Reformation.'''' 

It was now that the protestant Beast arose out of the earth, out of 
the pit of the earth, out of the wisdom and knowledge of earthly 
men, as is related at full in a subsequent chapter ; this Beast signifies 
the earthly doctrines and harlot churches of the Protestant name, 
which churches now arose from religious people (the earth), not as 
the first Beast, the Church of Rome, which sprung forth from secular 
power and worldly men, (that is, the sea.) 

V. 8, 9. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burn- 
ing with fire was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood. And 
the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died ; and the 
third part of the ships were destroyed. 

Here is described an improved era in the Church of Christ, some 
time after that Reformation which has been described in the former 
verses. God had bestowed more faith and more of the knowledge of 
himself upon his people ; they now saw plainer than had been seen 
at first by those who had a greater name and renown. They now 
had " a little strength.'''' This is the period of the Church in Phila- 
delphia, (ch. iii. 8.) They had a little strength, that is, faith ; they 
had faith " as a grain of mustard seed^'' and therefore a great 
mountain was cast by them into the sea ; that is, they were delivered 
from the law, it was cast into the world, they were filled with the 
Spirit of the Lord, and the world was struck and smitten by the 
Law. The mouths of the wicked and ungodly were stopped, they 
beheld their good works and were afraid and glorified God, and be- 
came blood, that is, now even the sea, the men of the world were 
constrained to become Christians in profession. Infidelity (as the 
proud raging of the Sea is called) dare not open its mouth when the 
people of God walk as becomes children of God : the reality of 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 103 

God's truth is then before their eyes, and they fear the law of God ; 
this law, which is " as it were a mountain burning with jire^'' (like 
to mount Sinai which burned with fire,) is cast upon them, (into the 
sea); and in their fear they become professors of religion. This 
effect was by no means produced upon all, but upon a third part of 
the sea, a great number ; a third part of those that had life died, 
they were convinced of the law as transgressors, having been before, 
alive without the law, not fearing nor believing that sin was evil, and 
that there was a sure reward for evil doers ; their ships were de- 
stroyed, their confidence and hope in their virtue, honour and 
morality, (which are the ships of the sea,) now died away ; the men 
of the world trust in these their ships and think they are safe, though 
a little wind of temptation blows them to pieces. But now a third 
part of these false confidences were destroyed, for the manifestation 
of the power of God in his people will put to silence the boasting of 
foolish men about their virtue and philosophy, and such like ships of 
human building. 

This period is the brightest time of God's elect during all the time 
of the falling away ; now the Sun shone the brightest and was less 
darkened than at any other period of the 42 months. Sound doctrine 
prevailed ; that eternal truth, that God is God, that is to say, he hath 
mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth, 
(which now it shocks this adulterous generation even to hear of, and 
which in their wisdom and knowledge they have exploded as an ab- 
surdity,) it vi^ould then have shocked the most earthly professors to 
have heard called in question. 

God's people of this period are called the Church in Philadelphia. 
God will make the enemies of his truth to know that he loved them, 
as also all his people with an everlasting love. Though a church of 
Christ, yet the Truth was in the wilderness ; there was a mixed mul- 
titude with them : they were in the midst of a generation which 
received not the truth in the love of it, though they all appeared to 
do so and were professors. But the " liour of temptation''' is approach- 
ing to try the earth, the earthly professors, or " them that divell upon 
the earthy'''' whose conversation was not in heaven, who pretended to 
be servants of God, and yet in their hearts stuck to the earth and 
minded earthly things ; God will try them. God however restrained 
it yet for a while, in the time of this church, as he had promised 
that he would keep them from that dreadful hour which was coming, 
(ch. iii. 10.) 

V. 10. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, 
burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon 
the fountains of waters. 

When the third angel sounded, that hour of temptation was opened. 
A great star falling from heaven, signifies a professor of eminence 
and renown who fell from heaven ; that is, who fell from the profes- 
sion and acknowledgment of the truth of the kingdom of heaven : as 
in the former chapter, they who received the heavenly truth, when 
they fell from it were spoken of as stars falling from heaven. This 



104 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

man therefore is one who falls from the true doctrine of heaven 
which now prevailed among the Protestants. 

" Burning as it were a lamp ;" that is, appearing to the world as 
if he were really a burning and a shining light ; giving a great light 
" as it were" (but not really) " a lamp.'''' The word of God is a 
lamp, and the burning of this famous man, seems to be, it is as it 
were the word of God, that is, a lamp. This star, this great profes- 
sor who departed from the true doctrine of God, and so fell from 
heaven, is the celebrated Arminius whose celebrated work at this 
period made its appearance and came burning like a lamp upon the 
Protestant churches. Before the appearance of this man's writings, 
the doctrine of God's absolute election, which is in other words the 
doctrine that God is God, had been the universal and unquestioned 
doctrine of the Protestant earth, and the elect of God who received 
the truth in the love of it, had been blessed and preserved. But now 
the doctrine that a corrupt tree can, if it will, bring forth good fruit, 
and that when it does begin then God will have mercy, but never till 
then, this wicked doctrine now for the first time was publicly sent 
forth, or (as The Lord Jesus Christ revealed ages before) it now fell 
from heaven. The doctrine is called from the name of this s^reat 
star the " Arminian doctrine" to this day. 

It fell upon " the third part of the rivers ;" that is, this man's 
doctrine was immediately received by a great portion of the people 
or nations of the Protestant earth : it fell upon " the fountains of 
waters." The Bible, the word of God, is the fountain of living waters, 
and these fountains were now perverted by the " new light" like a 
lamp ; which fell upon them. 

V. 11. And the name of the star is called Wormwood : and the third part of 
the waters became wormwood ; and many men died of the waters, because they 
were made bitter. 

The name of the star is called Wormwood ; and so it is ; the 
name Arminius, divested of the Latin termination, is made up of the 
Hebrew root which signifies bitterness, that is, Wormwood. And 
not only his name is literally wormwood, but also his doctrine is lite- 
rally bitterness or wormwood, it is a " root of bitterness" of which 
the Apostle Paul gave warning. The honey-comb of truth has been 
made bitter to many by this deceiving and lying doctrine, and many 
souls have been destroyed thereby, and many have died from the 
bitterness of the waters ; the strong drink of the Gospel has been 
made bitter to them that drink it. (Ish. 24.) The fear that there 
was really something of this man's bitterness in some parts of the 
Bible, has filled them with doubt and fear, and made bitter even 
what they did drink.* 

* The Church of the Laodiceans have imagined they had " need of nothing," 
they have imagined that from the moment they obtained a knowledge of the Gospel, 
they had need of nothing more, and that nothing more was to be obtained. They 
have imagined that they were not to be chastened and reproved, that they had 
nothing more to learn; of all these things Christ warns and notifies them, (ch. 3.) 
The word of God, the fountain of living waters, has been made bitter to them, so 
that they cannot read any of the exhortations of Christ to his saints without bitter- 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 105 

V. 12. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of tlie sun was smitten, 
and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part 
of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night 
likewise. 

After the great and famous event revealed in the last verse, which 
event gradually effected an entire revolution in the earth or Christian 
world, which turned the earth upside down and made it reel to and 
fro like a drunkard, (Is. 24) : while this " as it were a lamp''' was 
silently and gradually extending its bitter leaven, there came on 
perceptibly a darkness and obscurity both of the Law and of the 
Gospel (that is, of the Sun and of the Moon) and of the children of 
God, (that is, the stars of heaven.) There is no fact better known 
than this, viz. that what is called a great declension of religion 
(which is here revealed) followed at the period which succeeded the 
days of Arminius. The light of the church which preceded that 
period, (which is the Church in Philadelphia,) and the subsequent 
declension and deadness in the churches, is a matter of common noto- 
riety. That which thus took place was here revealed ages before 
the time. This darkness with which the day was smitten, (that is, 
the preaching and effects of the Gospel,) and the night likewise, 
(that is, the ministration and instruction of God's law,) — this dark- 
ness with which, not all j^et a third part of God's people, and of the 
ministration of the Gospel and of the Law was smitten, — this dark- 
ness and torper and apathy of the religious world is now about to be 
succeeded by what has been imagined by the earthly men to be a 
wonderful " revival," according to their own expression. 

V. 13. And I beheld, and heard an angel flj'ing through the midst of heaven 
saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to the inhabiters of the earth, by reason 
of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound ! 

The coming events, the great revival succeeding the darkness with 
which the Gospel and the Law and the followers of the truth were 
in great part smitten, is of such dreadful and awful importance as to 
be ushered in by the cry of " Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of 
the earth." For whereas they have eagerly received falsehood and 
lies, and hated the truth, God will plague them as he did the people 
in the wilderness, and will send serpents which will bite them. They 

ness and fainting and being weary in their minds, not knowing that the exhorta- 
tion speaketh unto them " as unto children,''^ that the Lord their God desires them 
to know what is His Will, and that they have nothing to do, but Christ will work 
and fulfil all tiie good pleasure of his will for them that only believe, who attempt 
not tljis work themselves, but, knowing what is his good will and that it is only 
for our own good, do seek to him and desire him to work and perform it. There is 
not a member of the Church of Laodicea who has not felt how exceedingly bitter 
the fountains of water iiave been made to him, and that whenever he has met with 
the exhortations of God, such as " mortify the deeds of the body," " walk not after 
the flesh," " cease to do evil," &c. his soul has fainted and died within him, as if 
he had something to do, (not discerning Christ,) for he knew too well that if he 
had any good to do, he must perish. From this bitterness of the waters God will 
now deliver his people, and that which has heretofore smitten them with death, 
which they have fled from and shunned as being legal and savouring of bondage, 
(and which is indeed bitter bondage to the children of the bondwoman,) will bs 
their joy and delight. 
14 



106 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

would not receive the Gospel which heals and gives life, but they 
will receive lies and delusions which fill them with torment and 
death ; and they will be proud of these delusions and call them a 
revival of religion. Now the hour of temptation is fully come ; now 
come " serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy, ''^ 
The solemnity of the announcement shows what a curse, what a 
dreadful thing falsehood is, especially such falsehood as relates to 
the truth of God. It is indeed no light thing to depart from the 
truth of God and follow the doctrines and teaching of men. 

CHAPTER IX. 

V. 1, 2. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto 
the earth : and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened 
the bottomless pit: and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great 
furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 

" A star falling from heaven" signifies, as before, a man of some 
eminence forsaking the right way and denying the truth. A deep 
or bottomless pit is (as Solomon says) a harlot or whore, that is, a 
false church, springing out of the deep pit of the inventions of the 
human heart. The harlot Church here spoken of, the deep pit 
which is now opened (having been quiet and shut up before), is the 
Church of England ; it is a pit of the earth, that is, of earthly reli- 
gious men. The smoke which now rose out of the pit, is vain and 
false doctrine which now emanates from the Church of England. 
This smoke darkened yet more the Sun and the air, that is, the 
brightness and life of the glorious Gospel of God, as it yet shone 
upon the earth. 

V. 3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth; and unto them' 
was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 

These locusts are the swarms of Methodist preachers which the 
smoke, the vain religious glory and false doctrine which arose from 
the pit aforementioned, now engendered. They now came upon the 
earth, that is made their appearance in the religious world ; they are 
as locusts because of their multitude, and because, spreading over 
the religious world, like locusts they destroy, as much as was per- 
mitted them to do, whatever was green and flourishing on it. Power 
was given unto them, as scorpions : that is, they were permitted to 
sting men as scorpions stingy first producing pain, writhing and 
convulsion ; and next a swelling or puffing up. First they sting with 
the stings of conscience, and then they filled men with vain and im- 
aginary swellings of peace and glory. 

V. 4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the 
earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have 
not the seal of God in their foreheads. 

That is, no power was given them over God's elect, to hurt them; 
for according to the words of Christ he gives them power " to tread 
on serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy,'''' therefore 
they could not be hurt by these ; God's elect are the grass of the 
earth and the green thing and the trees of God's planting ; but they 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 107 

had power over those who had not the seal of God in their foreheads. 
Accordingly they made their converts from the sea more than from 
the earth ; that is, from among people who hitherto made no pro- 
fession of religion rather than from the religious world, which is 
the earth : the success of the Methodists this way, sometimes over 
whole districts of irreligious persons, was very great. 

V. 5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they 
should be tormented five months : and their torment was as the torment of a scor- 
pion, when he striketh a man. 

They should not hill them, that is, they should not lead any man to 
a real conviction and suffering for sin, which is the real death the 
Law of God inflicts upon men whose consciences are brought under 
its power : they were to torment them and sting them with terrors 
and fears and alarms, and this power is to be possessed by them five 
months, that is, the doctrine and power of the Methodists is to prevail 
for 150 years from its first rise, and no longer. Their torment was to 
be like that of a scorpion, that is, to make men writhe and be convulsed 
with pain and then to be swelled up bodily, that is, in their fleshly 
minds. Accordingly this sect has always pretended to enjoy more 
happiness and to feel more lively feelings than others, because while 
others were slain by the sword of the law, they were not killed by it. 
Joel also prophesies of them, calling them grasshoppers, and saying 
they would fall upon the sword (of the law) and it should not kill 
them. 

V. 6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall 
desire to die, and death shall flee fi-om them. 

In those days, men, (and therefore though this thing is peculiar to 
the Methodist sect, it does not distinguish them alone, it has been a 
fashion among all the sects,) " men shall seek death ;" that is, they 
will labour and try, with all their might and main, to get conviction 
for sin, or religion, or a religious experience, as they call it. They 
will try to persuade themselves and to feel that they are dead sinners, 
hell-deserving sinners (death they consider the very essence of vital 
religion) : they will seek to have experiences ; and try to force them- 
selves to feel that distress and sorrow for sin which is a truly painful 
and terrible state of death ; but, they will try in vain, they shall not 
find if, said the Holy Spirit of Christ by the Apostle John, in the 
Revelation of Jesus Christ, ages before this thing came to pass. 
This death, this knowledge of sin which is by the Law, is not a forced 
work, and at the command of men when they please : it is God only 
" who teacheth 'man knowledge, '''' who bringeth his people whom he 
chooses to the gates of death, that he may lift them up again and 
give them to live for ever. All this forced labour and straining 
efforts of men to squeeze themselves as it were to feel what sinners 
they are, this seeking of death, shall be in vain ! they will not know 
nor find in reality that which they talk and glory so much about ! 

lliey shall desire to die ; they shall wish hard and desire very 
much indeed and very sincerely to get conviction and an experience. 
Such is literally the case with the inhabiters of the earth, and has 



108 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

been the case with men ever since the days of the Methodists " in 
those days.^'' It has been a universal rage, a mania, a religious 
fashion of the first importance and necessity to seek death. 

Herein we may behold the wonderful, the just and righteous retri- 
bution of God ! for the Methodist doctrine teaches that Life is in a 
man's own power ; God hereby determines that not even Death is in 
their own power ! " Not by might nor by power^ bid by My Spirit 
snith the Lordy That which God gives only, and gives freely and 
for nothing from us, is not to be gotten by might or effort ; it is 
only to be passively received. To think to get it by effort or trying 
is effectually denying that it is a gift ; and how should God give any 
good thing to them who deny that He gives ? 

V. 7. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle : 
and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the 
faces of men. 

A horse prepared vnio battle^ represents a fleshly preacher, going 
forth with inward confidence in his own strength and prowess, going 
to do great exploits as he vainly and pompously imagines. A horse 
aptly represents animal strength and beauty, it is admirable in its 
going and is an object of pride and admiration among men ; so also 
are such preachers spiritually. These locusts are preachers ; they 
have on their heads " crowns, as it were, like gold.^^ The saints of 
God have crowns of pure gold on their heads ; but these have imita- 
tions, counterfeits, they are, as it were, like gold, but not real and 
genuine gold. The glory of Christ is the crown of glory to the 
saints of God ; these also appear to have a crown of glory, and often 
exclaim ''^ glory, glory. ''"' but it is only a poor resemblance to the 
real glory, to the genuine gold, though it is as it were, and like. 
By these appearances of glory and holiness they who have not the 
seal of God in their foreheads are deceived and judging after the 
outward appearance, think that surely these are the people of God, 
these are the saints ! 

V. 8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth 
of lions. 

This is truly and literally the case : this is the way in which the 
preachers of the Methodists, and especially when they first appeared, 
were all of them in the habit of wearing their hair, having it smoothed 
down and flattened in front, and some even wearing it long behind, 
exactly like the hair of women, giving to their faces (which were 
the faces of men) the meek and gentle appearance of women. But 
with all these gentle and woman-like appearances, they had teeth 
like lions, they destroyed souls and devoured men. (Joel.) No de- 
scription could be more exact than this description which the Lord 
Jesus Christ has made of them many ages before they or their 
fathers were born. '^ He knoweth our thoughts afar off !^'' 

V. 9. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron ; and the sound 
of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 

A breastplate signifies Righteousness ; being as it were of iron, 
represents with great exactness the nature and description of the 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 109 

righteousness inculcated and (as a breastplate) buckled on by this 
religious sect. It is not the Righteousness of Christ, which being 
imputed they reject and deny (and thereby reject Christ, for Christ 
himself is the righteousness which is imputed to them that believe) : 
but it is a harsh, a severe, a strict, a cold, austere righteousness ; in 
a word, it is an iron righteousness which they put on like a breast- 
plate. 

The sound of their wings: here is represented the noise and bustle 
they make when they assemble : the confusion, bustling, prancing and 
shouting with which they go to battle, and gather together at their 
camp meetings, vScc: for their noise is very great. 

V. 10. And they had tails like unto scorpions ; and there were stings in their 
tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 

They had tails ; " the prophets which speak lies they are the 
tail" saith the prophet Isaiah. They are not described as having 
heads, " the ancient and honourable they are the head,'''' says the 
same prophet ; these have not the head, because the Methodists 
have been from their beginning an ignoble people, not generally 
composed, like some sects, of the high and honourable classes, but 
on the contrary of the lower classes. These tails sting and torment 
like scorpions, and it is here again repeated, their power is limited 
to five months, that is, 150 years : more than a hundred years of this 
time is already expired, for they first appeared about the year 1725. 

V. 11, 12. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless 
pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath 
his name Apollyon. One woe is past : and, behold, there come two woes more 
hereafter. 

This king or prince over them, whom they obeyed implicitly, and 
whose word they study and follow to this day, is John Wesley ; he 
was an angel, that is, a messenger of that deep pit or harlot, the 
Church of England, having been sent forth from her and commis- 
sioned or ordained by her, and ever zealously devoted to her, always 
believing that her harlot trimmings and dresses were more pleasing 
to God than the forms and trimmings of any other harlot whatever. 

This name which God has given him is Abaddon and Apollyon, 
which signifies the Destroyer. For he destroyed many, many souls! 
This name is given to him in Greek and in Hebrew, showing that 
he was an eminent Greek and Hebrew scholar, and therefore he has 
a name in both those languages ; also because he was both a Greek 
and a Hebrew, for he united in himself the two distinct principles of 
opposition which, in the beginning of the Gospel, were made by the 
Greeks and by the Hebrews separately. The Greeks sought after 
wisdom, and thought to know God thereby, (1 Cor. i. 22,) and the 
Hebrews, being ignorant of God's Righteousness, went about to 
establish their own righteousness. (Romans x. 3.) John Wesley 
was both Greek and Hebrew, he sought after wisdom, and he went 
about to establish his own righteousness. His name is therefore in 
both these languages, signifying a destroyer. 

But how wonderful, how astonishing are God's ways ! how he 
renders to every man according to his works ! This destroyer, this 



110 THE REVELATION OP JESUS CHRIST. 

great king of this great multitude, has in his writings called God, 
the living God, the merciful God and Saviour, " a Destroyer of 
men,'''' because he is pleased to save ; because of his merciful election 
of Grace, which is the act of his salvation, and but for which all 
would meet the merited fate of Sodom and Gomorrah ! (Isah. i. 9.) 

V. 12. One woe is past ; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. 

The rise and origin of this sect having been described, and the 
time it should continue made known, there are now two other woes 
or cries of prophetic warning to be fulfilled, for three were uttered, 
in the last verse of the chapter preceding. 

V. 13, 14. And the sixth angel sounded, and 1 heard a voice from the four 
horns of the g-olden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth ange) which had 
the trumpet, loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 

When the sixth ano;el sounds, four ano-els are loosed in the river 
Euphrates. These angels are also messengers as the angel in the 
former chapter ; hitherto they have been restrained, but now they 
are loosed to do their will. 

The great river Euphrates, signifies a people : the river Euphrates 
is the utmost and western river of Asia Minor, by which all Chris- 
tendom is signified, and this great river Euphrates signifies the 
people of North America, they are the great western river, or people 
of Asia, that is, of the Christian world. The religious activity of 
Satan could not come on till God let them loose : and this has been 
later than it beo;an in England. 

V. 15, 16. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, 
and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the 
number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand : and I 
heard the number of them. 

The time is fixed and limited which is given to the American 
messengers to slay men by doctrines and preaching which is of death 
and not of life. They are also numbered, every one of them is 
known, and it is a very great number of fleshly preachers, which (as 
it has been seen before) are signified by the word " horsemenJ''' 
Whoever they are who go forth to preach damnation instead of salva- 
tion, and death instead of life, let them learn that they are numbered, 
" / heard the number of ihern,''^ they are all numbered, all that have 
been and that are and that shall be. It is an exceeding great 
number. America has exceeded England in the number, variety 
and zeal of fleshly horsemen and angels (that is, messengers) of 
Satan, preaching death and killing men. 

V. 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, hav- 
ing breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone : and the heads of the horses 
were as the heads of lions: and out of their mouths issued fire, and smoke, and 
brimstone. 

The breastplates represent the kind of righteousness which these 
spiritual horsemen teach and inclucate : " of fire, ^^ that is burning, 
zealous and fierce : " of br'imstone,''^ that is, threatening, terrific and 
fearful, derived from the fear of hell, as that of fire signifies it is 
derived from fear of the law ; of jacinth, that is, more polished, 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. Ill 

gentle, and more beautiful in appearance ; but none of them are the 
breastplates of the Righteousness of God. Now whereas only three 
kinds of righteousness are described, and yet there are four classes 
of horsemen, including all the sects and preachers of every descrip- 
tion, it shows that the Methodist name is one of the four in America 
as well as in England, the breastplate of whose righteousness has 
already been described, as being of iron. 

Their heads are as the heads of lions, that is, Christ, the Lamb 
of God is not their head. The fire, smoke and brimstone which 
issue out of their mouths, describes the nature of their preaching ; 
"j^re," that is, they preach the terror and condemnation of the law : 
*' smoke,^^ that is, all sorts of fuming vanity, and false vainglorious 
doctrine and boasting : " hrimstone,''^ that is, threats of hell hre and 
damnation. 

V. 18. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the 
smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 

By these three the third part of the men of the earth are killed, 
that is, by the preaching of these spiritual horsemen. Only three 
are mentioned who kill men, because the locusts described before do 
not kill men, but on the contrary puff them up with a vain persuasion 
of life and glory, after having stung them a little at first. The 
others, however, three out of the four grand divisions, kill men, that 
is, they inflict upon men's minds that conviction, horror and fear, 
that inward dread and anguish which belongs to the guilty con- 
science, and which is death. 

V. 19, For their power is in their mouths, and in their tails : for their tails were 
like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do' hurt. 

Their tails icere like unto serpents ; as God plagues them that 
hate him, so they who hate his truth and doctrine are plagued with 
serpents which torment and kill, that is, false prophets who preach 
death and not life, driving men to desperation, insanity and death, 
filling them with inward torments and banishing all peace from them, 
and then calling such torture and misery the Gospel ! The tails are 
false prophets, teachers of lies, and heads are ancient and honourable 
persons. (Isaiah.) The Methodists were described as having tails, 
but no mention was made of heads, because in England they are an 
ignoble people, composed of the meaner sort. But in America all 
the various sects have the honourable, wealthy and great in union 
and connection with them, that is, they have heads. It is well known 
that this is the case in the United States, where at any great meet- 
ing whatever, of the great religious confederacies, the ancient and 
honourable, that is, the head, are to be seen at the right hand of the 
false prophets, (that is, the tail.) Members of Congress and persons 
in honour are joined with the false prophets, making speeches and 
assisting to give credit and eclat to the cause and proceedings of that 
great city Sodom and Egypt. 

V. 20, 21. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plag'ues, yet 
repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not vj-orship devils, and 
idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood : which neither can see^ 



112 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

nor hear, nor walk : Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, 
nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. 

The utter impotency and total inefficiency of the mighty efforts and 
zeal uf the religious horsemen is manifest enough. Notwithstanding 
the plagues with which they kill some men, notwithstanding their 
preaching of fire and brimstone, they do not lead men to repentance. 
Some indeed are killed and some are driven to madness by their 
preaching, but as to all the rest of their numerous followers and 
congregations, no repentance or shame for doing evil is produced 
upon them. Men only become more sinful and hardened by such a 
ministration of death. The effects of such preaching are here de- 
scribed : " yet they repented not of the works of their hands,^^ that 
they should not worship devils ; for though they appear and profess 
to sacrifice to God, the Apostle declares " they sacrifice to devils and 
not to God.^^ The gold and silver and brass and stone and wood of 
the temple are their idols, in these they trust, in praying and reading 
and singing and going to Church, even all the things which are found 
in the temple of God, but which are not God and cannot save ; in 
these and all such things and works of their own they have confi- 
dence and trust, (that is, they worship them,) and dream of going to 
heaven by their influence, while murder, sorcery, fornication and 
covetousness is in their hearts, and they repent not of it. Murder, 
that is, hatred and strife (1 John); sorceries, that is, trusting to the 
imaginary power and charms of men and things which have no 
power ; fornication, that is, thinking to be partakers of the grace of 
Christ by purchase and bribe ; theft, that is, covetousness, greediness 
after money, cheating, roguery and tricks, all which is become com- 
mon and almost reputable in the way of business. Of all these 
things, whether literal or spiritual, men do not now-a-days repent, 
but excuse them, laugh at them, or glory in them, in spite of the fire 
and brimstone which they sit under. 

Here the bitter fruits of the wicked religion and doctrines of devils 
of this last day are summarily and strongly described, and that 
dreadful state of society, that general demoralization and accumula- 
tion of crime which falsehood would produce, and has produced in 
this day, is made known by the Revelation of Jesus Christ. He hath 
told all these things long before they came to pass, that now that 
they are come to pass ye may believe. 

CHAPTER X. 

The former chapter brought the revelation down to the present 
day, describing in the two concluding verses the present desolation, 
the impenitent, hardened and dreadful condition of the earth, the 
result of the Abomination which has made desolate. Now is arrived 
the announcement of the approaching end of the Time of Abomina- 
tion, which is without doubt revealed with so much minuteness, that 
they who are ordained unto eternal life, according to the everlasting 
mercy and pitiful compassions of the Lord Almighty, may believe. 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 113 

V. 1. And I saw another mighty ang'el come down from heaven, clothed with 
a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and 
his feet as pillars of fire. 

An angel is simply a messenger ; this is merely a messenger whom 
God sends : here again, as before, this messenger is a man. He is 
called " mighty'''' or strong, because he is weak, according to the 
words of the prophet, *' let the weak say I am strong ;" that is, hav- 
ing a little faith, he is " strong in the Lord and in the power of his 
might :" it is not his strength, but the strength of Christ. 

" Come down from heaven,'''' signifies that he is not sent by man, 
that he comes from no sect or denomination of the earth, (that is, 
the religious world,) but that he comes declaring the truth of the 
Gospel of the Grace of God, by the Spirit of God. 

" Clothed with a cloud,''' signifies clothed with the Spirit of God, 
like a cloud, being full of rain ready to water the earth : it also 
signifies that he is encompassed with infirmities and involved in ob- 
scurity and contempt according to this world. 

" A rainbow upon his head,'''' signifies the covenant of God's 
mercy, showing that God in the midst of wrath will remember 
mercy ; that when he shall bring the flood of his indignation and 
wrath upon the despisers of God, upon them who walk after their 
own pleasure and lust, that he will not forget his Covenant, but will 
save all those who hope in his mercy, even a people prepared for 
his glory. Being on the head of this man, is to show that God's 
Covenant, mercy and everlasting Love towards his elect, (which the 
earth, the religious people abhor and revile,) is his crown of glory 
and rejoicing, that God hath covered him therewith, and in remem- 
brance of his mercy will certainly overshadow and preserve him in 
the day of trouble. 

" His face was as it were the sun,'''' signifies that he comes in a 
greater glory than the glory of the Law, when Moses' face did 
even shine with that glory : this man's face shines with the bright- 
ness of the glory of the Sun of Righteousness, it is the glory of 
Christ and his Righteousness which shines as the sun, and makes 
the faces of all his chosen and beloved to shine. (2 Cor. iii. 7.) 

^' His feet as pillars of fire,''"' signifies the message which he brings, 
his preachuig of the Gospel and the Truth of God : for he brings 
a message of great glad tidings to God's prisoners and disconsolate 
people, who are in bondage, and a message of fear and terror to the 
enemies of God which shall burn them up like fire : they are called 
feet, for he comes not in chariot or on horses, in the strength and 
parade of fleshly glory, but as a plain and simple messenger of 
another, that is, of God, not as a warrior doing great things, but 
doing nothing, believing and trusting all to God : they are called 
" pillars^'' for the message is sure and certain and firm and esta- 
blished like a pillar : " of fire,''"' for it will burn up the chaflT and 
stubble of wicked lies and abominations. 

V. 2. And he had in his hand a little book open ; and he set his right foot upon 
the sea, and his left foot on the earth. 

This book is the little book ; it is little, for it comes devoid of 
15 



114 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

earthly honour, applause and recommendation, because it is little and 
despised in the eyes of men: it is called open, for it is not sealed; it 
is plain and open, it lays open the faith once delivered to the saints, 
and it lays open the word and prophecies of God, which have been 
sealed hitherto. 

The sea is the world, and the earth is the religious world, the 
professors of religion, who while they pretend to be children of the 
most High God, to be believers in Christ and consequently in heaven, 
" staled together ivith him in heavenly places,'''' (Eph. ii. 6.) yet do 
mind earthly things and are devoted to the earth ; on one side he 
preaches and testifies against the world, that is, the sea, against its 
wisdom, its pride, and its blasphemy ; and on the other side, he testi- 
fies against the religious world, (that is, the earth,) against its lying 
doctrines, its falsehood and deceitful abominations ; this testimony 
against them both, is setting his feet upon them. 

V, 3. And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth : and when he had 
cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 

To cry with a loud voice, signifies the testimony he has borne and 
uttered against the religious wickedness of this Time : it is called 
loud, because it is not a muttering, doubtful voice, like that of the 
false prophets, (Is.) but open and loud : as when a lion roareth, because 
it will fill with terror like the terrible roaring of a lion, because it is 
not he that speaks, but the Spirit of Christ, the lion of the tribe of 
Judah which speaketh in him, (Mark xiii. 11,) roaring like a lion 
against the whole multitude of shepherds. (Isaiah.) 

" When he had cried:'''' this first took place after he understood 
this Revelation at Norris Town, Penn. in the court house of that 
town, before a large multitude, on the the 9th March, 1834. 

V. 4. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to 
write : and I heard a voice from heaven sayings unto me, Seal up those things 
which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 

It is a great mercy that these things which are to happen are con- 
cealed, so that the people of God, who shall believe in his name, are 
not given to know before the things which will happen to them ; but 
let them know that they are uttered. 

V. 5, 6, 7. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, 
lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who 
created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that 
therein are, and the sea, and tlie things which are therein, that there should be 
time no longer : but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall 
begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his 
servants the prophets. 

This took place several times in Philadelphia, when this messenger 
had not any idea that it was fulfilling the prophecy and word of God. 
On the Common opposite the Globe Mill he repeatedly declared in 
these words, " as the Lord God liveth who made heaven and earth, 
and the sea and all that therein is, so surely will He destroy the 
wicked religion of this day, shortly." In other and similar words, 
he repeatedly swore by the living God, to the effect that the Rehgion 
of this time would soon be ended or destroyed. Only meaning, as 



THE REVELATION? OF JESUS CHRIST. 115 

he imagined at the time, to express his certain conviction (of which 
he had no doubt whatever) that the reUgious world was gone a 
whoring from God, and that God would soon prove it, and prove the 
truth of the doctrines he taught. Little did he imagine, when he 
thus spoke, that it was not him but the Spirit of God speaking in 
him ; that " the religion of this day," " the wicked abominations of 
the religious teachers," terms which he then made use of, signified 
this Time, and that one of the most wonderful of the prophecies of 
God was then actually fulfilled. There must be many people in Phila- 
delphia who heard him thus speak, and that often. 

The religion, the abominations, the lies and blasphemies and false 
doctrines called by the name of " Piety and Religion," which he 
sware by the living God should be no longer, these are the " Time," 
the Abomination, which now draws near to an end. The words, 
" wlio created heaven and the earth and the sea and the things therein,^'''' 
are not like the words of men, rhetorical flourishes or vain expletives, 
but, as all the word of God, are full of significancy ; for now, at this 
time, both the sea and the earth unite in the same spirit of Atheism, 
to deny that it is God loho created : teaching that they create them- 
selves, and calling upon fleshly men to create themselves in Christ 
Jesus, telling them they can if they please, and upbraiding them for 
their sluggishness. 

V. 8. And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said? 
Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth 
upon the sea and upon the earth. 

This voice from heaven is the Spirit of God, by which the people 
of God will be directed and led to take this little book, for no one 
can take or receive it, unless directed by the Spirit, and no one can 
receive the truth but the Spirit of God. (1 Cor. ii. 11.) 

" I heard ;" it is John, the beloved disciple who speaks, and who 
is directed by the Spirit to receive this book : the due time is now 
come when Christ makes it first to be understood why John was 
called the beloved disciple, " that disciple whom Jesus loved.,'''' and 
what was signified when he said to him "i/" / will that he tarry 
till I come.'''' Christ was pleased to behold and to represent by John, 
the beloved of his soul to whom he will give to believe in Him in this 
last day ; John was a representative of them when he lay in Jesus' 
bosom ; as their representative he speaks in this verse, he represents 
them receiving the book, and eating it up, they are those who shall 
tarry till the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ, " till he come,'''' 
and they are doubtless the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to whom 
God will give repentance and an inheritance through the faith of 
Jesus Christ, among them that are sanctified through faith. They 
will believe, for the Spirit of God will lead them and guide them, 
and say " Go and take,'''' and be in them, giving them understand- 
ing. 

V. 9. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book' 
And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up ; and it sliall make thy belly bitter, but 
it shall be in ihy mouth sweet as honey. 



116 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

To eat up the little book, is to receive with the appetite of want 
and gladness the truth of God which it contains, the same manner of 
expression is common among men ; he who delights in what he reads 
is said to devour it. 

" It shall make thy belly bitter ;" belly signifies the earthly man, 
the flesh ; thus David says, " my belly cleaveth to the dust.'''' They 
who receive the truth, the doctrine of Christ, will find it bitter indeed 
to the flesh ; they will suffer hatred and scorn and contempt, they 
will be hated of all the world : Jesus Christ, in the days of his bitter 
humiliation, had not where to lay his head, and his people will be 
partakers of his sufferings ; honour, fortune, fame, respectability, 
reputation, and the praise of men, are not to be expected or sought 
after by them. But, bitter as the doctrine of Christ will be to the 
flesh, great suffering that it will expose them to who believe, it will 
be sweeter than honey to the mouth, to the spiritual man ; yea, for 
ever sweet, enduring and increasing for ever, rendering all the suffer- 
ings of the flesh as nothing, knowing that we are suffering with 
Christ, and that the life from which it pains us so much to part is 
very death, and that our profit and joy is to die daily, waiting for the 
redemption from this vile body. 

V. 10. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up : and it 
was in my mouth sweet as honey ; and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was 
bitter. 

The beloved disciple, he whom Jesus loved, took the book, and eat 
it up. It is certain that he v/hom Jesus loves in these last days, will 
take and devour with joy and gladness the truth of the Gospel of the 
Grace of God, made open in this little book. And it is certain that 
so soon as they shall receive the truth of Christ and submit them- 
selves to God, altogether, (which is eating up his doctrine,) so soon 
they will find his doctrine bitter to the belly, to the earthly man. 

V. 11. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, 
and nations, and tongues, and kings. 

The saints and people of God must prophecy again. " This Gos- 
pel must be preached in all the world, then cometh theend.^^ (Mat. 24.) 
They have long been silenced and silent, or only prophesied in sack- 
cloth in all the time of the Beast ; but now again (that is, once more, 
after so long an interval) the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the 
image of God, will be preached in all the world by the saints and 
servants of God, upon whom he will pour out abundantly of his holy 
Spirit, before many people and nations, and tongues and kings. 

CHAPTER XI. 

A more particular revelation of the state to which the earth (the 
professing world) would at last come, (which is now its actual condi- 
tion,) is given in this chapter ; also, how it will end is revealed ; 
the whole is preceded by a brief recapitulation of the state of things 
in all the time of the falling away, until the present time. 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 117 

V. 1, 2. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod ; and the angel stood, 
saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship 
therein. But the court which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not ; 
for it is given unto the Gentiles : and the holy city shall they tread under foot 
forty and two months. 

Here it is shown that God has an inner temple of spiritual wor- 
shippers, and that there is also an outer, an exterior fleshly temple 
of earthly, sensual and fleshly worshippers ; these latter (the earth) 
are not counted when God counts up his jewels, they are not mea- 
sured when he takes the account of them that serve him. It is also 
here shown that for the space of 1260 years the Gentiles have been 
earthly, outside worshippers, and power has been given them over 
the holy city, and during all the time of 1260 years they have trod- 
den it under foot : that is, God's chosen and elect people are collec- 
tively, in a body, the holy city, or Jerusalem, while also the collected 
body of false and earthly worshippers is called a city, viz. Babylon, 
or Sodom and Egypt. The holy city here spoken of, signifies the 
people of God collectively, and this is manifest, because if the mate- 
rial city of Jerusalem had been signified, then the 1260 years would 
have been completed nearly six hundred years ago, for Jerusalem 
after the flesh, the material city of bricks and stone, began to be 
subjugated to the Gentiles shortly after the death of Christ. This 
holy city is therefore the collection of God's spiritual people, and 
for the space of 1260 years the false worshippers of the beast have 
overcome and trodden them under foot, and have prospered against 
them, as Daniel prophesied. 

V. 3 to 6. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall pro- 
phesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These 
are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the 
earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and 
devoureth their enemies; and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner 
be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their 
prophecy : and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the 
earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 

In these verses it is shown what has been the spiritual light granted 
to the people of God in this long time of darkness, previous to the 
present triumph of the beast. The two witnesses are the Law and the 
Gospel of God, by the former of which God has testified to men of 
righteousness and judgment, declaring his wrath against every kind 
of wickedness and wrong-doing ; by the latter mercy and truth and 
life and salvation are testified of. During the 1260 years these two 
witnesses of God to man, have prophesied in sackcloth, as it is here 
again repeated, for 1260 years : that is, neither the Law nor the 
Gospel have been preached in the fulness of their power and glory 
in the earth during all this time ; and also when they have been 
preached, they have been together, the Law has been joined to and 
mixed up with the Gospel, thus taking away from the excellence 
and power of both of them ; for no righteousness comes by the law, 
it is intended for those who are disobedient and rebellious, who do 
wrong ; to teach, warn and reprove, and to punish, curb and restrain 
them ; while the Gospel is for them only who believe, who are no 



118 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

longer disobedient, to edify and strengthen them in Him, in whom 
alone they have life and righteousness without the law. 

Nevertheless, in all this period, no attacks of the sea, no power of 
wicked men, has been able to hurt them until nov/ ; fire has proceed- 
ed out of their mouths and destroyed their enemies ; that is, the 
judgments of God have fallen like fire from heaven upon those who 
have attacked and denied these witnesses of God. Numerous in- 
stances of this are upon record, where men who have blasphemously 
denied and reviled the truth of God, have perished miserably by the 
manifest judgment of God.* 

Also, during all the time of the falling away heaven has been shut 
and there has been no rain upon the earth (the religious world) : that 
is, the Spirit of God (which alone, like rain on the material earth, 
makes them who believe to be fruitful in good works) has not been 
poured out upon God's people who were on the earth, as it was 
before the falling away, during the week of 700 years when God 
confirmed his Covenant with many : the waters of life have been 
converted to blood, that is, have only been received and understood 
in a fleshly way, and men have been plagued and smitten with 
plagues of serpents and scorpions biting and tormenting them, and 
this has been by the judgment of God's Law and Gospel, his two 
holy witnesses which have been united together in one, and brought 
judgments upon men because of their evil and because of the abomi- 
nation. 

V. 7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascend- 
eth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome 
them, and kill them. 

This is now in this day fulfilled : they have finished their testi- 
mony ; the beast that ascendeth out of the deep or bottomless pit, 
out of the earth, has made war against them, has overcome them 
and killed them. The beast is the flesh, fleshly man and his doctrine ; 
it is called a scarlet beast, because his sins are as scarlet: he is 
called sinful man, or the man of sin, the wicked one, the son of 
perdition ; he is now exalted, " sitting in the temple of God, showing 
that he is God^ (2 Thess. ii. 4.) There he sits, exalted ; he is the 
abomination, his offering is the swine-flesh offering, he is now '■^stand- 
ing ivhere it ought not, (let him that readeth understand.y (Mark 
xiii. 14.) He is exalted above Him whom nevertheless in all the 
deceivableness of unrighteousness they call God, though they exalt 
themselves above Him. This beast is worshipped, for they say he 
can save, and they call upon him to save, that is, to do good, to work 
righteousness, which he who doeth is a saviour, for he cannot but 
save himself if he does it. The religion of this day, this Time, 
(which shall be no longer,) is the exaltation and worship of sinful 
man : he is exalted high in the chariot of his pride, in his own fleshly 

* Such a case occurred lately in the city of New York; one Cohen, on the 
same day on which he had published a manifesto of Atheism in a publication called 
the Free Enquirer, Was blown to pieces and his body scattered abroad in fragments 
by a combustible preparation of his own workmanship. This was the fire of God's 
law falling down from heaven upon him. 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 11 9 

excellence and works : all the toil and labour and zeal of the priests 
of this god, is to make this beast more ; they cry aloud and shout 
and weary themselves in calling upon him to be up and to be doing, 
to show his power, his goodness, his piety and his humility, to do 
good, to be good. This man of sin, this son of perdition, stained 
and dyed in sins, as scarlet is dyed, is iniquity itself; " his inward 
part is very wicked,''^ saith the prophet David ; " the imnard part,'''' 
for externally he appeareth like a lamb, as an angel of light ; this is 
the Iniquity which they are engaged this day in " drawing ivith cords 
of vanity,''^ with means and helps which are vain. (Isaiah.) They 
labour to make it move with main force, and when it moves in its 
wicked self-righteous career, which they deem to be righteousness, 
then they raise shouts of triumph and talk of and spread abroad the 
anecdotes of the pious doings of the idol. 

The beast has killed both the Law and the Gospel of God, (which 
till this day did prophesy, though in sackcloth,) by setting up its own 
precepts and ordinances and experiences, and all sorts of religious 
inventions, instead of the plain and simple Law and Truth of God. 
Instead of the law of God, to do good, not to God, but to one another 
and to all men, to show kindness to the stranger, the fatherless and 
widow, to draw out their bread to the hungry and to do mercy and 
love justice, not to lend out their money upon usury, nor speak 
deceitfully, instead of the kindness and good actions of man to man 
which the law of God teaches, they teach to belong to a church and 
confederacy, to subscribe money to their societies, to have certain 
abstinences, to keep a particular day in the week ; thus they have 
set aside the law, and every violation of it is righteous and of no 
consequence in their eyes, provided their own inventions are zeal- 
ously attended to. They have killed this witness, they regard it no 
longer, it is a dead letter to them, they only regard their own flexi- 
ble and undefined code of piety. They have also overcome and slain 
the other witness of God, the Gospel, by preaching their own works, 
(which they call means and grace,) and instead of the Power of God, 
preaching the power of man, thus exalting him above Christ. In- 
stead of confessing that God only is the Creator, they preach that 
man is ; that he, if he only pleases, makes himself to be a child of 
God. Thus they, that is, collectively, the beast, and it is only the 
Protestant beast which is here spoken of, have killed the two wit- 
nesses, the Law and the Gospel, and preach and regard and believe 
not, neither the one nor the other. All they care for, all they re- 
gard, is the idol, the beast which they have exalted ; its piety, its 
goodness, its excellence, is what they wish to see prosper and pre- 
vail, and they labour hard to this end, and dream that thus they 
please God ! This man of sin dictates what he pleases, both for law 
and gospel, selecting what suits him in the Scriptures and adapting 
it to his own pleasure and doctrines, and rejecting what suits him 
not.* 

* A late prophet of God, (Dr. Hawker,) whose testimony greatly tormented them 
that dwelt upon the earth, spake by the Spirit of God when he called this genera- 
tion " a Christ -despising generation.^^ 



120 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

What the beast is and whence he has sprung, who has thus killed 
these two witnesses of God, is particularly revealed. It is not the 
beast which arose out of the sea, but the beast which was seen 
rising out of the earth, the beast which has been set up and exalted 
by religious men, professors, men of earthly religion ; it is the beast 
whom the churches of earthly men have set up and exalted ; harlot 
churches (a deep or bottomless pit into which men fall inextricably) ; 
it is the beast which their wicked doctrines have raised to this wicked 
exaltation. This beast which has sprung from such a deep pit, the 
offspring of religious wickedness, is the beast which has triumphed 
and slain the witnesses. " The beast that ascendeth out of the bot- 
tomless pit shall make war against them and overcome them,'''' 

There are only two beasts ; the first, which is the Roman Catholic 
Church, which beast ascendeth out of the sea ; the second, which 
are the Protestant churches ; which is the beast which ascendeth 
out of the pit of the earth, out of the religious whoredoms of the 
earth, that is, men of the earth. It is only the last of these two 
beasts which makes war against the true doctrines of God, his two 
witnesses ; resisting, opposing, setting them aside, and making them 
of no effect, that is, killing them by their own doctrines and tradi- 
tions ; the first beast does not meddle Avith the two witnesses, it has 
buried them both long ago, and will not suffer their bodies to be 
brought out and to be seen, that is, to be read by the people. 

V. 8. And their dead bodies sliall lie in the street of the great city, which 
spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also oar Lord was crucified. 

A city is a collection of souls ; as the city of Jerusalem is the 
whole collection of God's people, so the city called Sodom and Egypt, 
is collectively the multitude of religious professors among the Pro- 
testants who assume to be the city of God, whereas they are a city 
of their own building, built on the foundation of man. The Romish 
Church is called Babylon, it is one and compact ; these are called 
Sodom and Egypt. 

Their dead bodies are Bibles : the bible contains the letter of the 
truth of God, viz. the law and the gospel, which are the only two 
witnesses by which God has ever testified to mankind. Without the 
Spirit of God, the Scripture is a dead letter without life ; it is a dead 
body, a mere body in which there is no spirit of life. Both these 
witnesses are now killed, because the Earth has made the word of 
God to be a dead letter ; it has no real authority with them, they 
wrest and pervert its words. Now, though they have effectually 
killed the two witnesses, yet they have got their dead bodies in the 
street of their city ; they lie in the street, they are made a common 
thing. In all the different ramifications and sects of this great 
spiritual Sodom, they have the dead bodies, that is, bibles, there 
they lie. 

This city is the very same in spirit and in deeds and in professions 
as that city of the wicked, (the Scribes and the Pharisees,) where 
also, as well as here, our Lord was crucified : for now, in this day 
and by this generation he is crucified afresh. It is the same genera- 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 121 

tion, in spirit and conduct, which was not to pass away till all be 
fulfilled, (Matt. 24, last v.) but now the time is at hand. 

V. 9, 10. And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, shall 
see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies 
to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them» 
and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another ; because these two prophets 
tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 

Three days and a half signifies the precise time which shall be 
permitted to this generation to triumph in their deeds of religious 
whoredom, while in this time the two witnesses are dead and silent. 
The former triumph lasted three days ; but then the body of our 
Lord was put in a grave ; it is not so now, however ; for they do 
not put the dead bodies of the two witnesses away and out of sight, 
far from it, they would not suffer this on any account, for they 
pretend that instead of having killed them, they honour and obey 
them, therefore they parade the dead bodies (the bible) all about, 
and make a great show of them. Much better for them would it be 
if they had not these dead bodies, if they were put in graves, (as the 
Roman Catholics have done,) buried far out of sight, than that they 
should add deceit to wickedness and pretend to love the word of God 
while they kill it and trample it under foot. 

But now they triumph in their deeds, and talk of the Millennium, 
as if they had already made a beginning of it ! They are not now 
as formerly tormented in their triumph by even the sound of a 
whisper of God's truth in the land. Before the two witnesses had 
finished their conjoined testimony, before truth was perished out of 
the earth, every now and then there arose some solitary prophet who 
preached the Righteousness of God, his work and election of Grace, 
and the utter beastliness and filthiness of the rags of human piety 
and righteousness ; this vexed and greatly tormented " them that 
dwelt upon the eartli^'' the earthly followers and professors of earthly 
wisdom and righteousness : but now they rejoice and make merry 
and triumph, and send gifts to one another ; they have societies or 
confederacies organised for the very purpose of sending gifts to one 
another, gifts of money and tracts and " good books" and dead 
hodies. 

V. 11. And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into 
them, and they stood upon their feet ; and great fear fell upon them which saw 
them. 

At the expiration of the time appointed to their triumph, the truth 
of God, in his Law and in his Gospel will be heard, declared in the 
power of the Holy Spirit. This is what is signified when it is said 
the two witnesses will stand upon their feet ; that is, the tinath of 
God, witnessed by these two, will be preached : the Spirit of God 
will raise up whom he pleases to speak the truth of God, this is what 
is signified by the spirit of life from God entering into them. Great 
fear will fall upon them who see this ; for whereas, even before, the 
truth of God tormented them and they never could endure it ; now 
in the midst of their triumph, when they think such doctrines are 
crushed for ever, to see them suddenly revive with power, even with 
16 



122 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

the power of the Spirit of God, will cause great fear to fall upon 
them, such a fear as fell upon Belshazzar when the hand writing 
appeared upon the wall ; for they are the same Belshazzar, they are 
making merry and rejoicing in their hearts, and they use the holy 
things out of God's temple, they make use of the very words of God 
in their abominations and when they offer swine's flesh upon his altar* 
Yea, they will fear, for the time is at hand. 

V. 12. And Ihey heard a great voice from heaven, saying- unto them, Come up 
hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud ; and their enemies beheld 
them. 

They heard a great voice from heaven ; they heard, that is, he 
who preached or proclaimed them, heard the voice, for, when it was 
before said they prophesied in sackcloth for 1260 years, it signified 
that the truth of the Law and of the Gospel was preached by men ; 
so here it is revealed that some one of God's children by whom the 
Gospel shall be preached in the power of the Spirit, shall be trans- 
lated and taken up to heaven in the sight of the deceitful and fdse 
worshippers, as Enoch was, and as Elijah was. The great voice is 
the voice of Jesus Christ, the son of God, which voice is the Power 
of God, which created all things when it spoke, and which will raise 
the dead, for as David testifies, " the voice of the Lord is mighty^ 
The enemies of God's truth, the opposers of his doctrine will be- 
hold it.* 

V. 13. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of 
the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand : and the 
remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. 

* There is a wonderful resemblance between the present day, and the day of 
that Elijah wh® lived in the days of Ahab. Then all Israel had departed from God, 
and was abandoned to the worship of beasts. So it is now. Then no doubt as 
now, they were positive that they worshipped God, and pleased him : no doubt 
they were firmly convinced that a noisy, bustling, showy religion, and the per- 
formance of services and duties of man's invention, would make depraved creatures 
pleasing to God, and would please him much more than simply obeying and taking 
heed to his holy law, which simply teaches men to do good to one another, (not to 
God,) thereby showing indeed that they loved God. They thought no doubt that 
evil deeds and covetousness signified very little and would be passed over, provided 
they were very religious, not knowing that there i^s no other real religion or wor- 
shipping but the showing kindness and doing mercy to all men. (Gal. v. 14 : James 
i. 27.) Then, as also now, there were many zealous devoted priests, but Elijah was 
the only one who preached the truth of God. Then, it rained not on the earth for 
the space of three years and six months, and this was because of the prayer of 
Elijah : and now also, at the prayer of the saints (on the opening of the fifth seal, 
ch. 6) it has not rained upon the earth for 1260 years; that is, the Holy Ghost has 
not been poured out upon believers, they have been sealed. And furthermore, that 
we may not doubt the truth as to this time, but that we may understand by the 
instruction of that time, there are exactly 42 months, that is, 1260 days in the three 
years and six months, when then it rained not, showing indubitably that those 
things " happened for our ensample npon whom the ends of the world are corned 
Also then, as now, God's power and truth was manifested, and the deceivings of the 
false prophets utterly exposed, and then, as now it will be, the false teachers were 
destroyed ; then, as now, Jezebel, the painted seducting harlot (a figure of the har- 
lotry of human righteousness and piety) was predominant : and also then as it will 
again be in this day, the Elijah of that day was taken up into heaven. 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 123 

Whoever this be, he will know that it is not for his own sake, or 
for his holiness that God doeth this ; far, far from it, but for the elect's 
sake, for his people's sake, that they may understand and believe : 
for, immediately upon the happening of this thing, "i?i the same hour^ 
there will take place a great shaking, commotion or alteration in the 
religious world, this is revealed by the words " there was a great 
earthquake,^'' and a great part, a tenth, of the spiritual city of Sodom 
and Egypt will fall, they will come out from among the earthly 
worshippers, and hear and believe : others, to the amount of seven 
thousand, though they will not believe, will be slain, that is, all their 
former confidence will perish, their consciences will be awaked and 
smitten, and thus they will be slain ; and the rest will be affrighted 
and give glory to the God of heaven, though they will neither believe 
nor be slain. 

V. 14. The second wo is past, and, behold, the third wo cometh quickly. 

The third wo cometh quickly ; there will yet be an interval of 
some time before the kingdom of Christ will begin upon the earth, 
before that will take place for which God's people have been taught 
to pray, viz. " thy kingdom come.'''' The rule and dominion of the 
beast, of the doctrine that man can please God and ascend into heaven 
by his own piety and exertions, will still continue, and men will still 
be seduced by the all-deceivableness of unrighteousness to trust in 
the arm of flesh and not to trust in God only. 

V. 15, a/lfinem. And the seventh angel sounded : and there were great voices 
in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our 
Lord, and of his Christ ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 

The Time of the beast is now finished. Now begins the reign of 
Righteousness, even of Christ, of truth and blessedness upon the 
earth. God will now take to himself his great power, now the 
Temple of God is opened in heaven. 

In these verses the events which will happen when the seventh 
Angel sounds are summarily revealed ; they do not however come to 
pass all at once and together ; but here a brief summary of them is 
given, and afterwards the particulars are revealed more fully and the 
order in which all these things will be fulfilled. In the meanwhile, 
a short pause and interruption is made, to reveal yet more fully and 
in a separate chapter the things relating to the two beasts and their 
time, and to give again a general summary of the whole, from the 
period when Christ was glorified to the present day. 

CHAPTER XII. 

The things which will come to pass while the seventh angel sounds, 
are resumed in the 14th chapter ; in the mean time a most minute 
revelation is made in the 13th chapter of the rise, and also of the 
character of that false and abominable System of Antichrist, of that 
Christianity or that counterfeit Christianity, which in various guise 
was to have power to continue for 1260 years, that is, 42 months. 
These religious earthly systems of earthly men, always bitter 



124 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



opposers of the offensive doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ, are now 
fully described under the name and figure of a beast. The whole is 
preceded in this 12th chapter by a summary of what has been before 
revealed ; and this being given in another form, yet perfectly agrees 
with and establishes the whole, confirming it by constant repetition. 

V. 1, 2, And there appeared a g-reat wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with 
the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 
And she being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 

The two Covenants are spoken of in the Scriptures under the 
similitude of women, the one, the covenant of Mount Sinai, is called 
a bondman, the other is called a free woman. The Apostle speaking 
of the Everlasting Covenant, which was four hundred and thirty 
years before the Law, says " Jervsalem above vs is f?'ei', wJio is the 
mother of vs all.^' This is the woman here seen. They who believe 
are the children of the free woman, or the children of promise, and 
they are the whole body of Christ ; each individual being only a 
member of that one body ; this whole body is the man-child which 
will reign on the earth. But they who are under the law are the 
children of the bond woman. 

Until the suffering of Christ and the glory which followed, the 
free woman had been barren, but the other had had many children ; 
but when Christ was glorified, then were fulfilled the words of the 
prophet, " Rejoice thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry 
thou that travaileth not, for the desolate hath many more children 
than she which hath a husband.'" This is the wonder which now 
appeared ; it appeared immediately after the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ from the dead, and this wonder was seen for a week of seven 
hundred years ; for, during that time God confirmed the covenant 
with many, as the prophet Daniel has written. Then first, after 
Christ was glorified, the church was beheld in heaven, having access 
into the presence of God by Him, then were they clothed with the 
Sun, clothed in the bright and glorious righteousness of the Sun of 
Righteousness, even Jesus Christ ; then were they delivered from 
fear and all condemnation, for the Law (that is, the Moon, the light 
which rules by night) was under their feet. Now were children 
born to the free woman, " she being with child cried.''^ 

V. 3,4. And there appeared another wonder in heaven ; and behold, a great red 
dragon, having seven heads and ten Jiorns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And 
his tail drew tlie third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth ': 
and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to de- 
vour her child as soon as it was born. 

Here again is repeated that which has before been revealed in the 
preceding chapters ; namely, the rise of the beast " having seven 
heads and ten horns,'''' for now in the time of the church of Perga- 
mos, Satan, the dragon, appeared with the abominations of false and 
lying doctrines, in heaven, that is, in the midst of the church of God, 
seducing by his preaching, (that is, his tail drew,) them who had 
the truth of the kingdom of heaven, who are called the stars of 
heaven. 

" His tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 125 

them to the earths Here again is repeated the falling away revealed 
before at the opening of the sixth seal in the 6th chapter ; they fell 
to the earth like untimely figs from the fig tree, they departed from 
the truth as it is in Christ ; they became earthly ; seeking right- 
eousness from the man of the earth, and looking to him for piety 
and good works, instead of looking to Christ only. Satan stood 
ready to devour the children of the Covenant, the heirs of promise 
as soon as they were born ; that is, the moment any one believed in 
Christ, he was prepared with the abominations of earthly religion to 
seduce him from the simplicity which is in Christ. 

V. 5. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod 
of iron : and her child was caug"ht up unto God, and to his throne. 

Believers are the body of Christ : the man child signifies the chil- 
dren of the covenant, they are " to reign on the earth.'''' Those who 
now were born to the free woman were caught up unto God and his 
throne, they disappeared entirely from the earth, none were left who 
were true children of the Covenant, the falling away was total, the 
heavens departed as a scroll, the grace of the kingdom was now no 
longer known or preached, " there icas silence in heaven.^'' 

V. 6. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared 
of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore 
days. 

Here again is repeated what was before revealed ; that the dura- 
tion of this falling away, and the reign of the Abomination would be 
for the space of 1260 years. During all this time the Covenant of 
God's Grace, his Everlasting Covenant in Christ has been fled from 
the earth, has been in the wilderness in desolation, and has not been 
known among the earthly worshippers, the followers of the Abomi- 
nation, even the abomination of man's piety and works, that swine 
flesh offering. 

V. 7, 8. And there was war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought against 
the dragon ; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not ; neither was 
their place found any more in heaven. 

It is after the falling away, and after the free woman is fled into the 
wilderness, that what is now revealed takes place. 

" There was war in heaven.^"* Though at the falling away when 
the 1260 years began, there were none left who kept the truth, all 
the children of the heavenly Jerusalem being taken from the earth, 
yet afterwards there were those who were " in heaven," that is who 
believed, and had access by faith into Grace, which is heaven: these 
were the Church in Philadelphia, as it has been revealed in the pre- 
ceding chapters. But this very word, " there was ivar in heaven,'''* 
shows what a state of conflict they were in ; nevertheless Satan pre- 
vailed not, he could not deprive them of their peace and Rest by the 
accusations of the law, for " Michael and his angels fought ;" as 
David says, ^Hhe angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that 
fear him, and delivereth them,'''' so it was now, for it is God who 
fighteth for his people, it is not they who fight and conquer. 



126 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

V. 9. And tlie great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and 
Satan, which deceiveth the whole world : he was cast out into the earth, and his 
angels were cast out with him. 

From this effort to disturb the peace of God's elect, who were 
translated through faith out of the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom 
of heaven, he was cast out into the earth, and his angels with him, 
that is, the Church in Philadelphia was kept by the power of God, 
Satan could not prevail over them as it was promised to them in the 
10th verse of the 3d chapter. The earth signifies earthly worship- 
pers, who are in the outer tabernacle and enter not by faith into the 
holiest of all, but remain outside, offering gifts and sacrifices that 
can never make him that does the service perfect as pertaining to 
the conscience ; these carnal ordinances were given only as patterns 
of things in heaven, till Christ should come by his own blood and not 
by any other means to cleanse our consciences from all sin, and open 
for us the way into heaven ; — now they who still cleave to the earthly 
patterns and reject the heavenly gift, are called the earth ; into this 
earth Satan was now cast out ; but those who being already com- 
pletely in the power of Satan and worshipping idols did not worship 
in the outer tabernacle any more than Pagans, such are not here 
signified under the name of the earth, they are the whole world," 
and therefore the " earth'''' into which Satan was now cast out, signi- 
fies the earthly worshippers among the Protestants ; and now begins 
the " hour of temptation''^ spoken of before, when evil angels appear 
preaching and seducing the men of the earth, ''^primly bringing 
in damnable heresies,''"' as revealed in the 9th chapter. 

" He was cast out into the earth ;" this is after the falling away, 
and after the woman had fled into the wilderness : this casting out of 
Satan into the earth is not the beginning of the 1260 years, for it is 
revealed as taking place in the midst of that time. The earth here 
sio-nifies only the protestant worshippers, earthly men, who say they 
are Jews, that is, the chosen people of God and servants of God, 
when they are not, for they do not obey him and submit to his words. 
Till now, Satan had not been cast into them, but was restrained and 
hindered for the sake of the saints in Philadelphia : he was not now 
cast out into the Roman Catholic Church, because he was already 
there, it was his seat, and he gave that church his power and great 
authority ; therefore being there already, he is now cast out into 
them. It is the protestant beast which is here signified ; till now 
they had kept the outward form of sound doctrine ; but now, because 
they were earthly and loved not the truth which they had., God doth 
send them strong delusions, he sends evil angels among them ; now 
begins that flood of disorder, confusion, false doctrine, perplexit)^ and 
error which has ever since prevailed among the protestant sects. 

" His angels with him.^"* He does not come alone, multitudes of 
devils enter into the earth (the earthly professors) with him, trans- 
formed into angels of light, preaching doctrines of devils, and (which 
is the character and name of Satan) accusing, condemning, threaten- 
ing and grievously tormenting the dwellers on the earth, and teaching 
them to call condemnation and death and guilt on their consciences, 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 127 

the experience and possession of the glorious Gospel of God ! how 
this has been the case was revealed in the 9th chapter. 

Christ prophesied of this generation which has exalted the man of 
sin, and trampled under foot the Man of Righteousness, the only 
Holy One of Israel, saying that they were not to pass away till all 
was fulfilled, and also saying, (and his words are faithful and true,) 
that after they had had some devil cast out of them and become 
religious, and been empty, swept and garnished, (thus for a time 
escaping the pollutions of the world through their fleshly knowledge 
of the truth,) then the devil cast out would return and bring other 
devils more wicked than himself, and the last state should be worse 
than the first. Even so is it with this generation ; after sanctifying 
themselves, they are confident that they are Jews, when they are of 
the synagogue of Satan, and being pufied up with the persuasion of 
their piety and sanctity, they are filled with more wicked devils than 
they were servants to before their imaginary conversion, so that their 
last state is worse than the first. This is the generation which was 
not to pass away till all things were fulfilled. 

V. 10, 11. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, 
and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ : for the 
accuser of our brethren is cast dovi^n, which accused them before our God day and 
night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their 
testimony ; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 

His accusation by the law is his warfare : and but for the blood of 
Christ, by this warfare and accusation he would succeed in dragging 
all the saints of God from heaven, that is, in depriving them of peace 
with God and of a purified conscience ; for the accusation is true, 
they have grievously sinned, and by the just and righteous law which 
they have violated he claims to have power over them to torment 
and punish them. But for ever, yea, for ever blessed be God ! by 
the blood of the Lamb, we are more than conquerors, and answer 
doubly all his accusations, his blood cleanseth us from all sin ; this 
blood sprinkling us, purges our consciences, we are freed from guilt 
and condemnation, and he cannot prevail against us. Even the blood 
of rams and of goats and the sprinkling of a heifer, inasmuch as it 
testified of Christ, sanctified in former days ; how much more doth 
the blood of Jesus Christ, the lamb which God himself provided, 
purge our consciences from dead works'? God having provided a 
sacrifice for us, we have not to provide or furnish any whatever, it 
is an abomination to offer up any other sacrifice : in Him the Lamb 
of God, God is well pleased. 

" They overcame him by the word of their testimony,'''' It was 
expressly promised to the church in Philadelphia, that they should be 
kept from this dreadful time of Satan when he would be cast unto the 
earth, because they kept his word. 

" They loved not their lives unto the deaths When a man loves 
his life, he will be in death ; when a man hates his life and desires, 
and is willing to be crucified together with Christ, he will obtain life 
eternal. " Our bellies cleave to the dust," we cling to the life of 
this world, and are unwilling to forsake all and follow Christ, it is 



128 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHKIST. 

literally parting with our lives ; until God makes us fit for the king- 
dom of heaven, we keep looking back after we have put our hands 
to the plough. But he who will live with Christ must die with him, 
must drink of that cup, forsake his life, and surrender his body to 
be crucified in its affections and lusts, Christ will do all this for him 
according to his faith, according to his hungering after the true 
Righteousness, and he will also give him this faith. The church in 
Philadelphia " loved not their lives unto the death." It is a painful 
conflict, it is dying, it is being " put to death together with him ;" 
yea, with him, for he suffers when his people, his members suffer. 

V. 12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the 
inhabiters of the earth and of the sea ! for the devil is come down unto you, having 
great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 

" Woe to the inhabiters of the em-thJ'^ This same woe was uttered 
before, previous to the appearance of the many delusions and errors 
which immediately followed, as revealed in the 9th chapter. Of this 
time also, and of this Woe, Daniel prophesied, saying, '•'■and there shall 
be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even 
to that same time.''' This word " trouble,'''' signifies the tribulation 
and trouble which now is ; it is confusion, perplexity, disorder, tu- 
mult ; it is trouble : it is not the day of wrath and vengeance, that 
is to come, after this day of trouble and disorder. Isaiah has also 
prophesied of this day of trouble, and reeling to and fro, showing how 
the star called Wormwood has made the strong drink of the Gospel 
bitter to them that drink it, how the inhabitants of the earth are 
burned, (which burning by the law, they call the beauty of the 
Gospel.) Ch. xxiv; ch. ii, v. 24, 25. 

" Woe to the inhabiters of the sea^ Not only has the earth been 
deceived and followed doctrines of devils, but also as it has been seen 
in these days, the inhabiters of the sea have not escaped. They who 
have not been joined to religious societies but have boldly rejected 
the Scriptures, have also followed devils, and the most absurd, abo- 
minable and blasphemous theories and madness has been engendered 
and received anionor them at the same time with the earth. It has 
been the age of abominations, of diabolical activity and folly, both in 
the sea and in the earth, that is, both among infidels and religious 
sects. It has been a time of trouble and perplexity, such as never 
has been known since the world began ; the sea and its waves roar- 
ing with a blasphemous audacity and boldness such as never before 
at any time was witnessed. It has been the flood and deluge of 
Satan. The commencement of this time of trouble (when Satan, 
failing in the war in heaven against them in Philadelphia, was cast 
out into the earth) has been revealed in the 9th chapter. But it was 
not only Woe to the inhabiters of the earth, but also Woe to the 
inhabiters of the sea ; for while Satan was working religiously in 
England he was also busy in the Sea, especially in France, where 
infidelity was as active as religious falsehood was in England. The 
French Revolution and the blasphemies of the French Philosophers 
was contemporaneous with the rise of serpents and scorpions in the 
religious world, that is, both occurred about the same time, fulfilling 



THE KEVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 129 

the words, " Woe to the inhabiters of the sea." Because iniquity 
has so dreadfully abounded in all this time of trouble, both religious 
and political, the love of many (namely, of Laodicea) has waxed 
cold ; for which iukewarmness, (waxing cold, though not quite cold,) 
Laodicea was reproved in the third chaper ; by which also we know 
that this is that very time of tribulation which Christ foretold should 
come to pass ; and we know that immediately after this tribulation 
there will come a darkness over the earth, the sun will be darkened: 
(but not to the elect of God ; only to the earth : " ye brethren are not 
in da?'hness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all 
the children of the light and the children of the day, we are not of the 
night nor of darkness,'''') and in the midst of this darkness, the day 
of the Lord will come, a day of darkness to them that dwell on the 
earth; and then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds 
of heaven with power and great glory. (Zeph. i. 14 to 17. Amos 
V. 18, 20. Joel iii. 14, 15, 16. Ezl. xxxii. 7, 8. Ez. xxx. 2, 3. Is. 
V. 30. Is. viii. 22. Is. xiii. 9, 10.) 

" He hath hut a short time.'''' Hence it is manifest that the day is 
close at hand, when he shall be bound for a thousand years, as it is 
revealed in another chapter : therefore, immediately after these tri- 
bulations which he bringeth on the earth, the day of the Lord will 
come, as Christ has also foretold, (Matt. 24,) but first night will 
come, and gross darkness upon the earth ; " the sun shall be dark- 
ened and the moon shall not give her light." That day will come 
" in the night,^^ as a thief. 

V. 13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted 
the woman which brought forth the man child. 

In all the hour of temptation from which the church in Philadel- 
phia was kept, which began after the Woe pronounced above, the 
great, constant, and inexhaustible topic of the false prophets and 
preachers of the earth, has ever been to preach and declaim in all 
their sermons, and warn men against the free woman, that is, the 
doctrine of Christ, the doctrine which gives freedom from the law 
of death and condemnation. To hear of it, tormented them beyond 
measure, they denounced it as licentious, immoral, antinomian, blas- 
phemous, &;c. The preachers of this blessed Gospel of life and 
liberty, of whom there were several in the church of Laodicea, (be- 
fore the two witnesses had finished their testimony,)* were hated 
and cast out, and considered as enemies of religion. 

" He persecuted the ii:oman.^'' It was the doctrine they persecuted, 
the woman, not the followers of the doctrine, the church of the Lao- 
diceans, because they excited no envy, their walk and conversation 
being carnal, was a triumph to the earth, but the time is coming 
when they will persecute them also as well as their doctrine, when 
they shall behold in them the Power and Might of God. They des- 
pised and pitied them when they saw them not approved, spued out 
of his mouth, and almost as hot and burning in lust after money and 
the things of this life as themselves ; there was nothing to create 

* Such were Mr. Romaine, Dr. Hawker, Wm. Huntington, and others. 
17 



130 . THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

their envy, and they only therefore persecuted the " woman.^"* La- 
odicea has trusted in gold that would not stand the fire, in feelings, 
frames and experiences ; they have been naked and their shame has 
appeared, and their enemies have triumphed over them ; Christ 
counsels them to buy of him gold tried in the fire, which will with- 
stand every fiery trial, and white raiment that they may be clothed ; 
he stands at the door and knocks ; (he that hath ears to hear, let 
him hear.) Thus Satan has persecuted the woman which brought 
forth the man child. The persecution has not been against them 
who believed for the reasons mentioned above, but against the truth 
and doctrine, the Everlasting Covenant of God's Righteousness and 
Love in which they trusted, against the woman, viz. " Jerusalem, 
which is above, who is free, and is the mother of us all.'''' But not- 
withstanding their hatred, let them know that this woman hath 
" brought forth a man child which is to rule all nations with a rod of 
iron,'''' that is, them who believe, the children of the kingdom, an^ 
they all are together the body of Christ, and " they shall reign on 
the earth.'''' 

V. 14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might 
fly into the wilderness, into her place ; where she is nourished for a time, and times, 
and half a time, from tiie face of the serpent. 

Here again is revealed (as hath so frequently been repeated) the 
duration of the time in which the Abomination will prevail and the 
truth be hidden from the world, viz. 1260 years. A time is a Jewish 
year, times are two of the years, and a half is six months, making 
in all 42 months and 1260 days, signifying that number of years. 
" That she might fy into the wilderness, into her place where she is 
nourished,^'' shows that the time of 1260 years did not now first 
begin, but that with respect to the church in Philadelphia, the people 
of God were in a better condition than any had been in since the 
falling away, so that the woman had, as it were, left her 'place in the 
wilderness ; for then she was, though desolate, yet less desolate than at 
any other period of the Abomination which has made desolate. " She 
flew into her place," that is, now when Satan was cast out into the 
Protestant earth of earthly men, (who till this time had enjoyed 
quiet for the sake of the church in Philadelphia,) the desolation be- 
came greater than ever it had been before. The truth of God rapidly 
disappeared, she fled with wings as of an eagle. And so it has been 
in this hour of temptation and time of tribulation ; the truth of God, 
Zion, has been more desolate, has been fled further away, has been 
more removed from the earth than ever it has been in any former 
time, till now at last, the truth is utterly cast out and the children of 
the bondwoman triumph and make merry and send presents one t» 
another, because, they are no longer tormented with hearing the 
preaching and prophesying of God's eternal truth, and everlasting 
Gospel. 

V. 15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood, after the woman, 
that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 

" Water as a flood.'''' The word of God is called water, and so 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 131 

also the teaching and lies of Satan are called water : the false doc- 
trines which have deluged the religious world, giving rise to innu- 
merable sects, are here signified. Satan has cast these " out of his 
mouth, after the wo-man /"that is, against the Covenant of God's grace 
and everlasting love to his elect in Christ Jesus, which it has been 
the object of the dragon to destroy ; and truly in these days, in which 
we have seen the flood of Satan's doctrines overflowing the earth, it 
has been seen that they have all been directed against and in oppo- 
sition to the Everlasting Covenant. It is against this Covenant, 
against Jerusalem which is above, against " the woman''' that Sataji 
has poured out all his flood of delusions. Against it the false pro- 
phets have directed all their venom. In this has been fulfilled the 
prophecy of the Apostle Paul, " God shall send them strong delusions^^"* 
and he says it will be because they did not receive the truth in the 
love of it. The object of Satan was that the Truth " might be car- 
ried away in the food.'''' No engine against the truth could be more 
powerful than an imitation and counterfeit, getting men to follow this 
instead of the real ; Satan had already tried this and succeeded for a 
long time, and yet, notwithstanding the church in Philadelphia, and 
some even in Sardis, received the truth and rejected the counterfeit 
and abomination. But now towards the end of the 42 months, 
knowing that his time is short and being cast out upon the earth 
from his effort to overthrow the people of God in Philadelphia, who 
had access by faith into Grace, that is, into heaven, he now makes 
one great effort, more violent than any before ; he pours out an 
immense flood of delusions ; not one abomination, not one counterfeit 
and false system of Christianity, but thousands ; and the object is as 
is here expressed, " that he might cause her to he carried away of 
the fiood^'' that in the midst of such a vast crowd of falsehoods, 
deceptions and delusions, the truth may be lost and swept away, that 
men may be thereby deceived, and being lost and bewildered in the 
confusion of so much religious madness and folly may be led to 
suppose that there is no Truth of God at all, and that since there 
are such floods of delusions all is a delusion, and there is no truth of 
God. Thus he hoped to sweep away the only truth, by a great flood 
of counterfeits, that it might be carried away in the flood and so no 
one might believe, and so no flesh might be saved ! And except the 
Lord had shortened these days no flesh should be saved ; but for the 
elect's sake whom he hath chosen he will shorten these days. (Mat. 
ii. 4.) 

V. 16. And the earth helped the woman; and the earth opened her mouth, and 
swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 

The earth, (the religious professors,) has opened its mouth and 
swallowed up the flood which the dragon has cast out of his mouth.: 
there is no folly and delusion however monstrous and abominable, 
which they have not greedily swallowed. It has been indeed " an 
hour of temptation, to try them that dwell on the earth.^^ They 
would not receive the truth that God, he alone is God and the 
Creator, he alone is holy and he alone has power, he alone saves, 



132 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

and saves whom he will — they asserted that man has holiness, 
^^ personal holiness'^ and power, and is a self creator, if he chooses ; 
the truth they would not receive, but every falsehood and all sorts 
of lies and absurdities they have greedily received and swallowed. 
In doing so they have " helped the uwrnan,^^ for the truth being the 
only thing they would not receive, all agreeing in a general malig- 
nity against it, they have set it apart, and separated it from their 
own doctrines and abominations, and thus set a mark upon it which 
cannot be mistaken. The covenant of God's Righteousness, even of 
his Christ, by whom and in whom they that receive him are blessed, 
by faith and without doing any thing, — this Covenant of Grace and 
favour and Love, in being thus thrust out from such company, is 
individualized and separated from out of the flood of religious decep- 
tions and delusions ; and thus the earth which would not receive the 
truth, has helped the truth by receiving and swallowing the flood of 
error. 

V. 17. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with 
the remnant of her seed, which keep the commands of God, and have the testimony 
of Jesus Christ. 

" The remnant of her seed,'^ shows that the child caught up to 
God and his throne, as mentioned in the fifth verse, signified only 
a part of her seed ; there is a remnant yet remaining of the man 
child, the seed of the free woman, the children of light, the chil- 
dren of the kingdom ; all who believe are collectively the man 
child, the seed of the fiee woman, of whom David says, " a seed 
shall serve him,^^ which seed the Apostle Paul testifies is the 
whole body of Christ, " and every one of us members in particular. ^^ 
Satan makes war against this seed of the woman, for he is wroth 
against her, and against the truth of Jesus Christ. He does not go 
to war with the earth, he bites and torments them ; he has warred, 
against them of Laodicea and overcome them, for they have not been 
in heaven " seated together with Him in heavenly places,^^ they have 
been " carnal, and walked as men,'''' therefore because they were 
neither hot nor cold the Lord has " spued them out of his mouth," 
that is, they have not been delivered, but have been given over to 
Satan '■yfor the destruction of the flesh, that the Spirit may be saved 
in the day of the Lord Jesus^ To them it is said, " Behold I stand 
at the door and knock." But the remnant of her seed here spoken 
of, signifies those who will now believe, the remnant which is yet to 
be fulfilled of the body of Christ, against whom he is going to make 
furious war, and against whom he shall not prevail, for their Re- 
deemer is mighty, the Lord of Hosts is his name. This remnant is 
yet to be gathered in before the end cometh : the church of Laodi- 
cea is among them, they will hear the voice of Christ, they will 
follow him, and not love their lives ; " he that is of God heareth 
God's words," and they will hear, after they have been chastened 
and rebuked. And not they only, but also the multitude of the sea, 
(as the prophet has foretold,) and also Israel, and also many of the 
earth, of Sodom and Egypt, and also of Great Babylon. " And 
there shall be One Lord and his name One." 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 133 

CHAPTER XIII. 

A more particular Revelation is now made of the various churches 
or ecclesiastical establishments which have during the time of 1260 
years passed under the name of churches of God, when they were 
inventions of men, and churches of the devil. 

The power, reign and dominion of these establishments is called a 
" Beast" and by the prophet Daniel a " King" for man exalted 
and honoured is the whole foundation of their religion, and their 
reign and dominion is the reign and dominion of man and not of 
Christ ; David testifies that " man that is in honour and understand- 
eth not, is like the beasts that perish" and Daniel says, (speaking of 
four different dominions,) " the four beasts are kiiigs." This Beast 
is sinful man, exalted and set in honour as a king and a saviour ; he 
is called by the Apostle Paul the " man of sin " that is, simply sinful 
man ; and because his sins are as scarlet, he is also called a " scarlet 
beast" 

V. 1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, 
having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his 
heads the name of blasphemy. 

This beast rose up out of the sea, for the Roman and also the 
Greek Church (which are the same and were one at their origin) 
was set up and received its power from the sea, from the world, and 
men of this world, among whom the Emperor Constantino is most 
distinguished. This beast is the same which in the preceding chapter 
was revealed as appearing and standing before the woman to devour 
her seed ; there it was called the dragon, and here it is man, for 
they are both one, as Christ and his people are both one, but are a 
lamb not a dragon. 

V. 2. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as 
the feet of a bear, aud his mouth as the mouth of a lion : and the dragon gave him 
his power, and his seat, and great authority. 

A leopard represents sinful man ; the prophet Jeremiah says, " can 
the leopard change his spots ?" The dragon gave him great au- 
thority ; the Church of Rome has had great authority indeed, and it 
has been both the authority of man and the authority of Satan in 
one. 

V. 3, 4. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death ; and his 
deadly wound was healed : and all the world wondered after the beast. And they 
worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast : and they worshipped the 
beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast ? who is able to make war with him ? 

Christ put to death the body of sin and death ; then was the old 
Adam, the old man slain, then that beast received his death wound ; 
but now by the falsehood of Satan he is revived again, as if he had 
life and could do good, and notwithstanding that deadly wound putting 
him to death, is taught by this Church as having life and power and 
being able to do good and serve God and work righteousness. This 
beast thus revived by false doctrine now excited the wonder of all 
the world by liis apparent life, and the apparent works of goodness 
and sanctity which he now began to exhibit. 



134 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

V. 5. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking- great things, and bias- 
phemies : and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 

Here again is revealed (which has so often been repeated) that the 
power of the Beast should continue for 1260 years, in which time 
the saints of God should not have power, but should be overcome, as 
the following verses show. 

V. 11. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two 
horns like a Iamb, and he spake as a dragon. 

This second beast comprehends all the number and variety of all 
other churches or religious bodies which at different times have 
sprung up, since what is called the reformation. 

" Coming up out of the eartk,^^ shows that they did not arise all 
at once, in unity as the former establishment did, but at different 
times, as it were continually springing up : " out of the earth" that 
is, they were not set up by princes or emperors, men of the sea, but 
arose from the fleshly zeal and piety of religious persons, from the 
whoredoms of men, from the bottomless pit of the earth. 

" TiDO horns like a lamb ;" these are Luther and Calvin, both 
acknowledged as the two great authorities or horns of the reforma- 
tion : " like a lamb," for the doctrine and ministration which now 
began was very much like the doctrine of Christ the Lamb of God ,* 
it was a counterfeit more subtle and more resembling the truth than 
the former establishment. 

" He spake as a dragon .•" that is, although the beast which is 
here revealed as now arising, appeared like a lamb, it was not in 
reality the power and reign of Christ the Lamb which now arose ; 
for " he spake as a dragon ;" the dragon is the o,ccuser, the opposer, 
using the Law to accuse and to oppose the Grace of God ; so also, 
as the dragon, both Luther and Calvin preached the Law which 
accuses and condemns, and thus they spake as a dragon. " He (the 
beast) spake as a dragon ;" this beast in all its many and vai'ious 
shapes and forms has always spoken as a dragon ; like a dragon 
breathing out fire and smoke and brimstone ; using all the terrors of 
the law, and fears and threats, as instruments of its religion. 

V. 12. And he exerciseth all the pov^rer of the first beast before him, and causeth 
the earth, and them which dwell therein, to worship the first beast, whose deadly 
wound was healed. 

" All the poioer of the first beast before him :" that is, the very 
same kind of power which the Roman Catholic beast exercised, has 
been since him exercised by the Protestant beast. " And causeth 
the earth to worship ;" the Protestant churches have been as intole- 
rant as the Roman Catholic church, and forced or " caused" men 
to worship according to their forms, and punished men for non- 
conformity as well as the beast before, thus causing the earth to wor- 
ship* 

* The cruel and bloody persecutions of the Church of England against those 
who would not conform to her, are well known. In 1703, when an act of tole- 
ration was brought forward in Scotland for the benefit of those who did not conform 
to the Presbyterian church, the General Assembly of the Presbyterians presented 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CUEIST. 135 

" To ivorship the first beast, ivhose deadly wound was healed.''^ 
The Roman Catholic Church worshipped several beasts : it is repre- 
sented with seven heads ; the head signifies the abomination, the 
object of trust and confidence, as Christ is the " head of the church P'' 
one of the objects of trust and confidence in the Roman Church, as 
well as their images, saints and mass, &;c.,is man, the old man, the 
body of sin and death, in him they also trust, in his doing good, in 
his works and piety ; this is one of the heads of that church ; this is 
sinful man, the beast, the body of sin and death which received a 
deadly wound, which was put to death in the body of Jesus Christ : 
this beast which though put to death yet lives, {it is not and yet is,) 
is that one of the seven heads which the Protestant Beast has caused 
men to worship ; this is the beast whose deadly wound was healed, 
and it is the same as the first beast ; and they have caused men to 
worship it : " it is of the seven,^^ and yet it is " the eighth,''^ and 
" it ascendeth out of the bottomless pit,''"' that is, religious whoredom 
is that which has raised and exalted it, and it shall be destroyed, that 
is, " it goeth into perdition.'''^ 

V. 13. And he doeth great wonders, so that he raaketh fire come down from 
heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 

" He doeth great wonders :" these are the deeds of piety and 
apparent holiness which this beast has done : the wonderful reforma- 
tions it has apparently wrought, the devils it has cast out ; for of a 
truth many evil livers and drunkards and others have had such devils 
as were in them cast out, and to the wonder of the sea and admira-" 
tion of the earth have joined the church and become pious, being 
" made perfect in thefiesh^ This beast has also often preached the 
terrible law of God, which is a law against all unrighteousness and 
ungodliness of men, and which is true and certain, though even Satan 
preached it ; and thus, not knowing what spirit they were of, (Luke 
ix. 54, 55,) they have made the dreadful judgments of God's law to 
fall like fire from heaven upon wicked transgressors. The manifest 
judgments of the law which have often and in the most awful manner 
fallen upon men, after the threatening and denunciations of this beast, 
are great wonders which he has done. Even in this day these 
wonders are often trumpeted forth in the newspapers, and it is re- 
lated how men have returned money or other things which they had 
stolen before they became religious ; these things are called the 
" Power of Religion," (fee. and create admiration and wonder in the 
sight of men when they behold the fire of God's law causing evil 
man " to do many things.^'' 

V. 14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those mira- 
cles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell 
on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound 
by a sword, and did live. 

a representation against it, which caused it to be laid aside. This " causing men 
to worship,''^ refusing toleration, using constraint and force, is the same power as 
was exercised by the beast before : as if God would have among his people those 
who served him unwillingly I 



136 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

By means of these wonders or miracles, whicli are not by the 
Spirit of Christ, he deceiveth the men of the earth ; they have taken 
the dreadful certainty of the law to be a clear proof that they pos- 
sessed the Gospel, and have been deceived. 

" Saying, they should make an image to the beast ;" here is another 
deception revealed, the deepest and most wonderful of all. The 
astonishing and manifest truth of this which is here revealed, shows 
the wisdom and almighty power and glory of Christ, who revealed 
this thing so many ages before ; " irw/?/," they will say who do not 
harden their hearts, truly this is the Christ, the only Saviour, and 
his icord is true. 

The abomination, the beast to which the Protestant harlots or 
beasts, have said men should make an image, is particularly specified 
and designated, it is " the heast which had a wound by a sword and 
did live,^^ it is man, the flesh, the body of sin and death, it is of the 
seven abominations of the beast before, and in the Protestant beast it 
is an eighth, it is the beast that was, and is not, and yet is ; it is the 
beast which has ascended out of the bottomless pit, which has sprung 
out of the religious whoredom and wisdom of earthly men ; it is man, 
sinful man, iniquity, the wicked one, the head of earthly worshippers, 
as the Holy One is the head of them that worship God in spirit and 
in truth. This wicked one is now fully revealed and greatly exalted, 
and now in this day, even all shame is passed away and the power 
and excellence and goodness and hopefulness of this wicked one, 
*' sitting as God in the temple of God,'''' is openly maintained and 
exalted. Let us now see what is signified by making an image to 
this beast. 

The beast with two horns, that is, the body of Protestants, has 
always spoken bitterly against the first beast, viz. the Roman Catho- 
lics, and against their abomination of confiding in the works of man 
and exalting that beast which had the deadly wound. But while 
they have been talking loudly against their elder sister (Ezek. xxiii.), 
they have set up the same beast and taught religious people, the 
earth, to look to the beast, that is, to their own doings, the doings of 
man, to his piety, his labour and efforts for working righteousness, 
that is, doing good. But, as they have both preached and written and 
fought against the Roman Catholics, and especially against this one of 
the seven heads of their abominations, they have therefore pretended 
to much more purity, and have not openly and directly set up the beast, 
but instead thereof have said to their followers, {them that dwell on 
the earth) that they should make an image to this beast ; and behold 
how they have done it. They have preached and taught, that to be 
born again is to have a new man created internally, and that it is 
this new creature, this image of man, an imaginary man, who does 
good ; thus they have deceived themselves and others, saying " it is 
not the old man who does good, it is not the beast, but it is the neiv man, 
this image of the beast.^'' Thus they escape from Christ, and reject 
him, they will not have him to work righteousness for them and so 
to save them, and yet they dare not set up the old man ; therefore 
they set up an image of the old man, an imagination, an image of the 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 137 

beast, and this is their saviour ; this regenerate man, yea, this 
" reoenerate sinner," as they call the image of the old sinner (for 
they confess it is a sinner, a beast) does good, that is, works right- 
eousness and saves them ! 

This substitute for the beast they call " a change cf hearty'''' and 
they teach that though the old man, the sinful man or the beast, 
cannot do good, yet they get a new man, they themselves, that is, 
the filthy beast, becomes a changed man, and it is this changed man, 
or this regenerate man, who does good ! who, in other words, is their 
saviour ; for at all events they will not receive Christ to be the Christ 
and saviour, " icorking ?nightUi/ in them that bdiere.^^ Thus they 
substitute an ideal imacje of the beast for the beast itself. This is the 
image of the beast which they say that the men of the earth should 
make ! it is an imaginary creature instead of the old creature, an 
image of the beast instead of the beast itself; it is an imagination of 
their own, that is, an image. 

Thus while they pretend to say they cannot do good, and persuade 
themselves they have no trust in man, (that is, are not worshippers 
of the beast,) yet as soon as they have taught a man to make this 
image, then they tell him he has got a change, a new heart, an ima- 
ginary something in him, and now he can do good ; and they call 
upon the filthy sinner, " the regenerate sinner,''^ to do good, that is, 
to work righteousness, letting him know, every now and then, that it 
is not he who does good, but this new thing, this image of the old 
man, this image of the beast. Thus by their gross, fleshly and 
abominable perversion of the words of God, by their sensual and 
earthly interpretations, they bring forth the old man, the beast, under 
a new form or image ; inculcating earnestly the necessity of the new 
birth, by which they signify the necessity of making this Image. 

Constantly talking of Christ, they reject him and will not receive 
him ; but they will receive this something within them, this ideality,, 
this image, this new self, yea, they will receive any thing to work 
righteousness and save them, rather than Christ ; they will acknow- 
ledge any god but the only true God. Idolatry, wickedness and evil 
deeds are dreadful indeed, even alone and by themselves, but when 
covetous men and men who do wrong, add furthermore to their evil 
the pretence of worshipping God, and say they are his servants, and 
his children, and have his good Spirit, then wickedness can go no 
farther. This is hypocrisy, when a servant to sin deems himself to 
be a servant cf God. 

V. 15. And he had power to give life onto the image of the beast, that the image 
of the beast should both speak, and cause that as man}? as would not worship the 
image of the beast should be killed. 

This image of the beast appears to have life ; they presume to say, 
that the grace of God is with it, giving it life and enabling it to do 
good. It has its experiences, its feelings, its holy frames, its pious 
ecstacies ; it is full of talk, it is a speaking image ; it has made a 
great show of life, some of its worshippers have exhibited the utmost 
attainments of fleshly perfection. It causes them that will not wor- 
ship the image to be killed, that is, it breathes out condemnation and 
18 



1J38 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

death to those who do not make " a new heart" to themselves ; and 
men who do not set up the image, feel condemned, that is, are killed 
for not doing so, for not being pious, as they feel they ought to be. 

Thus, in this wonderful book of Revelation, the Spirit of Christ 
has accurately revealed, many ages before, what would come to pass; 
viz. that men of the earth, professing themselves to be children of 
a heavenly kingdom, would not only look to sinful man to do the 
work of Christ, and thus exalt him in the place of Christ, that is, 
God ; but that also, plunging deeper than this into guile and confu- 
sion and lies, would set up an image, a pretended new form or image 
of man, another man as they would persuade themselves, a regenerate 
man, and, to avoid the condemnation of worshipping the first beast, 
would look to this imaginary man, this image of the beast for right- 
eousness ; that is, would trust to and worship it, attributing to it 
wisdom and power and goodness which are only in Christ, that is, in 
God. 

V. 16. And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to 
receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads. 

Every one receives a mark ; it is called the mark of the name, 
that is, of the denomination ; no one can belong to them without 
receiving the peculiar mark or characteristic of the sect he belongs 
to ; this mark or characteristic of each name or denomination con- 
sists in tenets or doctrines they hold, or in particular practices or 
habits they adopt ; the principles or tenets form the mark in their 
foreheads, and the practice they pursue is the mark in the hand. 

V. 17. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the 
name of the beast, or the number of his name. 

The power of the Protestant beast which has been elevated out of 
the profound depths of the wicked heart of earthly men, (that is, out 
of the pit of the earth,) is different to the power of the first beast, the 
Roman Catholic Church ; they have no sword in their hand, no 
secular authority, therefore they resort to a different way of exercis- 
ing authority and spreading their religious influence. If they can 
possibly prevent it, no man may buy or sell, no man may trade or 
carry on business unless he is ^^ decidedly pious.^^ If it is known 
that a man who carries on any business is opposed to them, or is not 
a friend to the cause, who does not belong to some religious society, 
(that is, who has not the name of the beast or the number of his 
name,) they will not suffer that man to do business if they can help 
it. Thus " he causeth that no man might buy or sell save he that has 
the mark, or the name of the beast or the number of his name.'''' By 
this means the community is in fear of them, and they exercise great 
dominion, and cause men to worship the beast by such a mercenary 
coercion, which is tacitly understood. Few of those who have ven- 
tured to war against them, have escaped being what is called ruined 
in their business and prospects. 

V. 18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of 
the beast : for it is the number of a man : and his number is Six hundred three- 
score and six. 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 139 

The number of the beast is six hundred and sixty-six : it is the 
number of a man, for the beast is a man, even sinful man ; the whole 
number of this beast is six hundred and sixty-six, let him that hath 
understanding, count the names, or denominations, and the whole 
number of the name which this beast has or has had, will be found 
to be exactly the Number here revealed, 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Now is resumed the continuation of the Revelation from the last 
verses of the 11th chapter, after the interruption made in the two 
preceding chapters, revealing the things relating to the Beast and 
his time. 

It was revealed at the end of the 11th chapter, that when the 
seventh Angel sounded the reign of Christ was come, and the time 
of the dead that they should be judged ; that which was there re- 
vealed as being the things which will then come to pass, is now 
revealed in the order and particulars of the events which now are to 
take place. The following are those events which will come to pass 
in the time of the soundinof of the seventh angel. 

V. 1. The church of God's elect, with the lost sheep of the house 
of Israel, will be assembled at Mount Zion, and nations will flow 
unto it. 

V. 2. The everlasting Gospel will be preached in all the world, 
going forth from Mount Zion. 

V. 3. The blessedness of those who now repent and believe, will 
henceforth be greater than has been for 1260 years. 

V. 4. The elect of God will be reaped or gathered in from the 
world, great multitudes will believe, for the harvest will have come ; 
after which many false professors, the vine of the earth, will be 
reaped, and the winepress trodden. 

V. 5. Now before the end cometh, seven last plagues will be 
poured out upon the earth. 

V. 6. A great confederacy and alliance will be entered into by 
the beast, like a lamb with the kings of the earth against the saints 
of God. They will have a false prophet among them, working 
miracles and deceiving them that worship the beast and his image. 
Their power will appear overwhelming and invincible, and it will 
appear to them that God has commissioned them ; they will be like 
Sennacherib and his host in the days of King Hezekiah : which Sen- 
nacherib is a prophetic type of this great and powerful confederacy. 
As Hezekiah trembled so the saints of God will be alarmed and 
tremble, that is, " the powers which are in heaven will be shaken." 
Many among ihem will prove they were not of them and will fall 
from the steadfastness they may have hitherto maintained, that is, 
" the stars will fall from heaven." There will be gross darkness in 
the earth which however they will mistake for light, " the sun will 
be darkened and the moon will not give her light," this will be in 
all the land of Egypt. They will gather together to destroy the 
saints of God, in a place called in Hebrew Armageddon. 



140 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

V. 7. The Roman Catholic Church, which is Babylon, the 
Mother of Harlots and abominations of the earth, will be utterly 
destroyed before the coming of Christ, as Jeremiah and the other 
prophets have foretold, God will send against them a powerful nation 
from the north ; but the Son of Perdition, the beast like a lamb, the 
earthly protestants and their doctrine (viz. exalting sinful man, or 
an imaginary man, as doing good or working righteousness) will 
remain till the coming of the Lord, " whom the Lord shall consume 
with the spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his coming." 

V. 8. When the enemies of God's people appear sure of triumph 
and too powerful to be overcome, being gathered together with great 
confidence and power as if for inevitable victory and triumph, so that 
the saints of God are shaken and troubled, then God will hear their 
cry and behold their distress and the pride of the enemy, and he will 
come down to deliver them. Then, even then the Lord Jesus Christ 
will appear, coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great 
glory and all his holy angels with him, in flaming fire, taking ven- 
geance of his enemies. The mighty host of his enemies will be 
destroyed by the word of his mouth and the brightness of his coming, 
the bodies of this huge carcass will be given to the fowls of heaven, 
the carcass will be there, and thither will the eagles be gathered 
together. 

V. 9. The resurrection of them that are Christ's will now take 
place at this his coming, and some will rise to shame and everlasting 
contempt. The seventh angel now will have finished sounding, Christ 
will reign ; God will have taken to himself his great power, and the 
mystery of God will be finished, as was uttered by the four and 
twenty elders, when at the beginning of the sounding of the seventh 
angel they fell upon their faces and worshipped God. This is the 
first resurrection. 

Thus the world will go on as usual and the idolatrous and unbe- 
lieving be as confident as ever in the things in which they trust, and 
will not acknowledge nor trust in God only, till the very moment 
when Christ shall appear in the clouds of heaven with ten thousand 
of his saints to exercise judgment upon all, as Enoch prophesied. 
They will wilfully shut their eyes to the truth, to invincible facts, 
because they will love darkness rather than light, till the very 
moment when sudden destruction will come upon them unawares, 
and they will suddenly be destroyed, and that without mercy. 

CHAPTER XV. 

V. 1. And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him a 
hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their fore- 
heads. 

The church of falsehood and confusion has been signified by a 
beast ; the Church of Christ is also designated under the figure of a 
beast ; but the one is a dragon, the other is a Lamb. It is here 
revealed that the Church of Christ will stand on Mount Zion : hither- 
to a beast " like a lamb^^ has been seen on the earth, deceiving men. 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 141 

but now the real lamb is seen on Mount Zion, " a city set upon a 
hill." 

Now will be fulfilled the words spoken before by the prophets 
Isaiah and Micah, who prophesied of these times. " But in the last 
days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lordy 
shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted 
above the hills, and people shall fow unto it^ (Micah iv. 1.) 

With the Lamb there are a hundred forty and four thousand : 
these are of the tribes of Israel, they have joined the Lamb, the 
Church of Christ, they are " with him." 

V. 3. And they sung- as it were a new sox\g before the throne, and before the 
four beasts, and the elders : and no man could learn that song but the hundred and 
forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 

No man could learn that song but those of the tribes of Israel. 
When God shall gather together the lost sheep of the house of Is- 
rael, as he hath promised that he would do when they should accept 
their long punishment and banishment, and return to him acknow- 
ledging their sins, then among all the redeemed of the Lord, these 
will have a song of praise, which they only can learn who have 
suffered what they have suffered. It is the song of the house of Is- 
rael, on the turning again of its captivity. 

V. 4. These are they which were not defiled with women ; for they are virgins. 
These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he g-oeth. These were re- 
deemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 

They are Israelites indeed, in spirit, not in the letter, in whom is 
no guile : they are " without fault,^' being sprinkled with the blood 
of Christ, the lamb, the passover which is slain for us ; God beholdeth 
no iniquity in Jacob, in their great High Priest in whom he vieweth 
them, who also bears their names on his bosom. They were not 
defiled with women, with the harlot churches of the earth, as many 
have been; they follow the lamb : " my sheep hear my voice and I 
know them, and they follow me^ 

V. 6, 7. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the ever- 
lasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, 
and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying v/ith a loud voice. Fear God, and give 
glory to him ; for the hour of his judgment is come : and worship him that made 
heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 

Now will be fulfilled the words of Christ, " and this Gospel of the 
kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all na- 
tions ; and then shall the end come.^^ For now the Gospel goes forth 
from the hill of Zion, it is preached to the religious world that now 
is, and also to every nation, " unto them that dwell on the earth, and 
to every nation .*" confirming the fact that the " eartK''' signifies only 
the professing world, who are the enemies of Christ, who " shall be 
made his footstool /" and another Scripture says, " the earth is his 
footstool." 

V. 8. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that 
great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her for» 
nication. 



142 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

The fall of Babylon, " that great city,^^ the Mother of harlots and 
abominations of the earth, viz. the Roman Catholic Church, is here 
announced and its destruction cometh immediately. 

V. 9 to 11. And the third angel followed them, saying- with a loud voice, If any 
man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in 
his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured 
out without mixture into the cup of his indignation ; and he shall be tormented 
with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of 
the Lamb : and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever : and 
they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and*whoso- 
ever receiveth the mark of his name. 

After the warning to the Roman Catholic beast, comes a separate 
warning to the Protestant beast, and those that receive the number 
of its name. It is a dreadful warning given to those who will still 
proudly continue to worship the beast, or his image, (that is, to look 
to sinful man, or to what they call the regenerate, sinful man, to 
work righteousness, instead of looking to, that is, worshipping Christ.) 
The warning is given to all who still will adhere to the religious 
tenets or practices of the beast, " like a lamb ;" that is, who receive 
the mark of any denomination or name whatever. It is a warning of 
the most awful judgment that is to be found in all the Scriptures. 

V. 12. Here is the patience of the saints ; here are they that keep the com- 
mandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 

The patience and suffering of the saints will be chiefly exercised 
in resisting the strong delusions of the beast and his image ; of the 
piety of man a sinner, or of the imaginary regenerate sinner : they 
who overcome are those who keep the commandments of God and 
the faith of Jesus. 

V. 13. And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the 
dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may 
rest from their labours ; and their works do follow them. 

Now the time is come when they are blessed who die in the Lord, 
they rest from their labours and sufferings ; that is, hitherto in the 
time of the 42 months, or 1260 years, the people of God who have 
died in the Lord, who have died to every false hope and been poor 
and needy and contrite and broken in spirit, from the knowledge of 
their total destitution of all righteousness, (which knowledge of sin 
is by the law, and is death,) they have not been blessed and com- 
pletely delivered from labour and sorrow, and brought forth the fruits 
of righteousness by Jesus Christ ; but now " henceforth, Blessed are 
the dead lohich die in the Lord,^' they who now are slain or dead by 
the knowledge of their unrighteousness and the want of righteousness, 
who now suffer this repentance and abhorrence of their own works, 
will immediately enter into Rest, and be delivered from their labours 
and be filled with Christ and his righteousness ; " their works (which 
are by Him) do follow them.'''' That " to die in the Lord" signifies 
what is here stated is manifest, for they who believe " die no more;" 
even when they depart out of the world they do not die, they sleep 
in Jesus. 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 143 

V. 14 to 16. And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one 
sat like unto the Son of men, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand 
a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying witii a loud voice 
to him that sat on the cloud, Tlirust in thy sickle, and reap : for the time is come 
for thee to reap ; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud 
thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. 

" The earth is reaped.'''' Now, before the tares are destroyed, 
Christ gathers his wheat into his garner ; he " gathers together his 
elect from the four corners of the earth.^^ 

V. 18, to the f-nd. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power 
over fire ; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, 
Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ; for her 
grapes are fully ripe. 

And after the earth has been reaped " the vine of the earth is 
gathered,^'' the vine of Sodom, which when God looked that it should 
bring forth grapes, brought forth wild grapes. 

CHAPTER XV. 

In this chapter it is revealed, that immediately before the pouring 
out of the last vials of God's wrath upon the earth, the redeemed of 
the Lord are collected from off the earth and gathered together, and 
the temple of God is opened in heaven. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The vials of God's wrath are now poured out. 

V. 10. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast ; and 
his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain. 

When the fifth is poured out the kingdom of the beast is full of 
darkness, then is darkness in the land of Egypt ; the sun and the 
moon are darkened and do not give their light ; now also many who 
love this present world will fall from their steadfastness, these are 
called stars falling from heaven. All these things will come to pass 
in the sounding of the seventh angel, and it is immediately after the 
trouble and tribulation of this present day, spoken of in chapter 12th, 
for the sounding of the seventh angel is the time after this previous 
time of trouble, when Satan has poured out his flood upon the earth. 
Christ foretold this darkness which will now take place, saying, 
" immediately after the iribidation of those days shall the sun he 
darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall 
fall from heaven^ and the powers of the heavens shall he shaken ; and 
then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall 
all the tHhes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man 
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory J'"' (Matt, 
xxiv. 29, 30.) 

V. 14 to 16. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth 
unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of 
that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that 
watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Arma- 
geddon. 



144 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

When the sixth is poured out, the confederacy against the holy city 
begins, and at the same time the glorious coming of Christ is an- 
nounced ; " Behold I come as a thief ^ Blessed is he that watcheth and 
keepeth his garments.'''' It is here revealed that the enemies of the 
Gospel will be gathered together into a place called in the Hebrew 
tongue x^rmageddon. 

When the seventh vial is poured out, '-'■ It is done'''' is pronounced 
out of the temole of heaven from the throne. The time of his coming^ 
is now arrived, first there are voices and thunderings and lightnings; 
Babylon is shaken and divided into three parts ; there is a " great 
hail." The particulars of the coming of Christ are revealed in a 
subsequent chapter, and in the meanwhile, in, the next. 

In the 17th chapter, a minute description is given of Babylon, the 
Mother of harlots, previous to her utter destruction; and in the 18th 
chapter a separate account of her terrible ruin is given, these two 
chapters forming an interruption to the revelation, the order of which 
is again resumed in the 19th chapter. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

V. 1 to 3. True and righteous are his judgments ; for he hath judged the great 
whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the 
blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke 
rose up for ever and ever. 

The Roman Catholic Church and the Greek, a branch of her, will 
now have been destroyed ; previous to the coming of Christ : here 
end the 42 months, for she was to continue that time. The beast 
like a lamb, the protestant beast still remains, for as the Apostle 
prophesied to the Thessalonians, this beast was only to be destroyed 
" with the brightness of his coming,''^ whereby it is manifest that the 
man of sin, the son of perdition who shall be destroyed with the 
brightness of his coming, is indeed the second beast, which rose out 
of the earth, out of the deep pit, viz. the Protestant beast like a 
lamb ; for the first beast is destroyed before his appearing, as it is 
written, " her smoke rose up for ever and et-er." 

V. 7. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him : for the marriage of 
the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 

The marriage of the Lamb is now come : now " when he shall 
appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is." (1 
John iii. 2.) 

V. 11 to 15. And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse ; and he that 
sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge 
and make war. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white 
horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp 
sword, that with it he should smite the nations ; and he shall rule them with a rod 
of iron : and he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty 
God. 

This is the glorious coming of Christ, who comes with destruction 
to his enemies, for he shall make war against them and destroy them 
" by the spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his comingy^ as 



THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 145 

the Apostle Paul has foretold. " The spirit of his mouth,'''' is here 
signified by the figure " a sharp sword^ 

V. 17 to 19. And I saw an angel standing- in the sun ; and he cried with a loud 
voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst heaven, Come, and gather your- 
selves together unto the supper of the great God ; that ye may eat the flesh of 
kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, 
and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both 
small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, 
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his 
army. 

The body or carcass of his enemies who were gathered together 
against his people, and the fowls which are assembled, were both 
foretold by Christ in these words, " Wheresoever the carcass is, thither 
will the eagles be gathered together.''^ They are now gathered to- 
gether by command, for the carcass is there, a great supper ready 
for them. 

CHAPTER XX. 

The first resurrection now comes to pass ; which Daniel has also 
foretold, saying, " And many of them that sleep in the dust of the 
earth shall awake.'''' When he says " many,''^ he shows that it is 
not the last and great resurrection, but of many, that is, not of all. 
Paul also prophesied by the Spirit of Christ of this first resurrection, 
showing that the end, when the general resurrection will be, cometh 
after this : saying, " But every man in his own order : Christ the 
first fruits ; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming ; then 
cometh the end,'''' which end here spoken of, is the Resurrection when 
the thousand years have expired. He also says in another place : 

Them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For the Lord himself 
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 
with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first : then we which are 
alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in tlie clouds, to meet the 
Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

The judgment of the enemies of Christ will now be, as well as the 
reward of them that have loved him. •' As for those mine enemies 
that would not I should reign over them, bring them hither and slay 
them before me." And Daniel prophesies that now there will be a 
resurrection of " some to shame and everlasting contempt." Now 
is the kingdom of Christ, and all who have belonged to his kingdom 
will be judged by the words of his mouth. 

These sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets 
sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. 
Behold, I come quickly ; blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of 
this book. I Jesus have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the 
churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning 
star. And the Spirit and the bride say. Come. And let him that heareth say, 
Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the 
water of life freely. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly : 
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with 
you all. Amen. 
19 



THE 



PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 



Christ himself (not only in the Revelations) but also when on 
earth even before he suffered, prophesied of this generation and 
accurately described them. The people thought that the kingdom 
of God would then appear, upon which he spake this parable unto 
them, in which he describes the different ages of Christianity in 
three divisions, and shows to the utmost exactness the character of 
this the last generation. 

LUKE, CHAPTER XIX. 

V. 12. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive 
for himself a kingdom, and to return. 

Christ ascended into heaven the far country, to sit on the throne 
of his glory, at the right hand of God, till his enemies were made his 
footstool, and then (that is now quickly) to return. 

V. 13. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said 
unto them, Occupy till I come. 

The money or talents represents the treasure of the Gospel which 
in the several times he hath given, in such proportion as pleased him. 

V. l4. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We 
will not have this man to reign over us. 

Here is described the world in general (the sea), those who have 
altogether rejected his authority. 

V. 15. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the 
kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had 
given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 

The coming of Christ and the judgment is here described, when 
Christ shall come and judge his people. 

Vs. 16, 17. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 
And he said unto him. Well, thou good servant : because thou hast been faithful in 
a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 

The first age of Christianity is here described, when the treasure 
of the Gospel was faithfully dispensed by those who had it in their 
charge, and brought forth fruit abundantly. 

Vs. 18, 19. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five 
pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 

The second period is here represented, when false doctrine had 
spread, and the fruit of the Gospel was diminished. 

V. 20 to 23. And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which 
I have kept laid up in a napkin : For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man : 
thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. And 
he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. 
Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and 



THE PARABLE OP THE TALENTS. 147 

reaping^ that I did not sow : Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the 
bank, that at my coming' I might have required mine own with usury ? 

The present and last Time is here described in which the Gospel 
is entirely hid and wrapped up in the filthy napkin of human Righte- 
ousness. The preachers of this time are accurately described. God 
saves the poor and the helpless freely and gratis ; only because he 
will have mercy and is gracious, it is the entire and sole act of his 
Grace and favour ; and since it is of Grace, the sinner has nothing to 
pay or to do, otherwise it is no Grace at all. (Romans.) 

This is the glorious and joyful tidings to sinners, that God in the 
man Christ Jesus has done and doeth and will do all for them ; but 
they who have got this rich talent of precious gold and pretend to 
dispense it faithfully, hide it, wrap it up, and falsify it, and preach 
that the sinner has still got something to do. They don't believe 
God's simple and plain word, " Believe and thou shalt be saved,'''' they 
are afraid of this glorious Gospel, they cannot give credit to such 
good news, such complete salvation, so glorious, so entire, so befitting 
the Mighty God, so completely fitted for the wretched and helpless 
sinner, such a royal proclamation of such exceeding riches of Grace 
and Glory. They are afraid of the true Gospel ; they hide, they wrap 
it up, they guard and surround it with checks and provisos. They 
think it pious and righteous to preach human works, to deny, to 
despise, to qualify, to dilute, to hold back the real good news. They 
are (in their own eyes) wiser than God : they question the safety, 
the propriety of such exceeding rich and boundless liberality, they 
think it unsafe dangerous doctrine ; they are afraid, yea they are 
fearful of God's holy truth and rich Grace, and therefore they wrap 
it up, or bury it in the earth (in the mass and heap of their own 
earthly and worldly doctrines) they want to know how the sinner can 
serve God, if he has nothing to do, if he has all Righteousness in 
Christ, if he is quite delivered from the bit and bridle; they are at a 
loss to imagine how Christ Jesus the Mighty God can possibly save 
them if he is so kind and liberal, and if they have nothing to do. 
Woe unto them, yea woe unto them ; for whereas Christ came to 
save, they step in between to hinder, to deny, to contradict, to kill 
and to destroy ! They falsify and hide and bury the glad tidings ; 
they give wormwood instead of the honey-comb of the Gospel, they 
withhold water from the faint and thirsty soul. They are afraid of 
the truth and hide it; and they say God is an austere man; that is, 
being themselves austere, morose and bigoted taskmasters, they think 
God is such an one as themselves, and they preach him as such, as 
laying heavy burdens upon sinners, as reaping where he has not 
sown, as wanting something from the evil and unrighteous and 
poor and miserable sinners ! They being austere men themselves 
represent God as such an one as themselves, and they hide the talent 
and preach their own wisdom instead thereof, and they gain no cities, 
they produce no fruit, the Gospel in the little proportion they know 
it, produces nothing. 

V. 22, 23. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, 
thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I 



148 THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 

laid not down, and reaping- that I did not sow: Wherefore then gavest not thou 
my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with 
usury ? 

They will be judfjed out of their own mouths, for since they being 
usurers, and never giving except to get, and demanding a strict return 
for every penny they disburse, — since they think God like unto them- 
selves and represent him as an usurer, not giving except he gets 
something in return, preaching that men must pay God a little piety 
or something else for his Grace and Goodness, — since they so preach, 
why do they not also themselves actually pay God ? Why do they 
not really return him something for the talent of gold ? Nay, they 
make their living and their fortunes out of it, instead of paying for it 
themselves, and they tell others to pay while they pay nothing them- 
selves ! But why do they not really do good and so pay usury, since 
they say they are bound to do it? by the law of their own mouth 
they are condemned for not doing it. Why, instead of paying God 
his own do they so act that the most wicked men take courage and 
blaspheme God when they see their pride and covetousness, their 
folly, their inconsistency, their bitter wrathful and wrangling spirit ? 
Out of their own mouths they are judged ! 

Thus this astonishing parable is a prophecy, and contains a most 
accurate portraiture of the religious generation of this last day, which 
is the same generation of serpents that crucified the Lord of Glory, 
and is not yet passed away. 

This parable was to be hid and could not possibly be understood 
till this time. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, and his 
astonishing wisdom and righteousness, yea, his goodness and mercy 
in blinding the eyes of the wicked and letting them wander in the 
complications of their own wisdom will be made manifest to their 
complete confusion. If this crime of the wicked ( — yea, this heinous 
crime; for, can there be a greater enormity than to make God a liar? 
To tell sinners they have got something to do, when God has freely 
forgiven all and done all ? to tell them who cannot pay, that God is a 
usurer and expects to be paid ? To tell them that such usuriousness 
is God's Grace ? to tell them that Christ's death is not sufficient ? 
that his Power and his Righteousness is not sufficient ? that he with- 
out their work cannot save, and that without it he will not save ? Is 
it a light thing to call such lies the truth of God ? to represent God 
thus evil, austere and usurious, like unto corruptible man? Is this a 
light thing? and to do all this wickedness with solemn declarations of 
loving God and obeying him, and with all deceitful appearance of piety 
and holiness? Is this a light thing?) If this crime of the wisdom and 
knowledge of man had been foretold plainly and communicated to 
them before it came to pass it would have been preventing them 
from pursuing their own way and doing as they listed, they would 
not have done the deed Vv^hich was exposed, and so to expose it would 
have been to prevent them from doing it, and to falsify the prophecy 
after it was given. They would have invented some other way of 
perverting and denying the grace and goodness of God, and if that 
too had been foretold so that they should understand, then they 



THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 149 

would have evaded that also and run upon some other artful perver- 
sion. No, when God would let them have their own way and will 
(which has been given to them for an appointed Time) it would not 
have been to do so, by premature disclosures. It would have been a 
total hindrance of their own ways to show exactly what they would 
wickedly do ; and then what they would do, they would pretend they 
had done by obligation, or by predestination, or by necessity. They 
were before of old ordained to this condemnation, that is to the con- 
demnation for this wickedness which they would wilfully and wickedly 
do ; and they were let alone to do the things for which their condem- 
nation was before of old ordained ; therefore if their eyes had not been 
blinded that they should not see, they would have been hindered in 
pursuing their own way. But now when it is come to pass, it is laid 
open that they have done as God revealed they would do, ages before, 
even before there was yet a single Christian in the world, that ye 
may believe, and that ye may know verily that God was in Christ 
Jesus, that he knew all things and knoweth all things, yea the very 
thoughts and secrets of men long before. 

Some one will say, God could have prevented all this evil. Men 
hate him, because he does prevent and hinder them from fulfilling all 
their lusts and bringing all their wicked devices to pass ; and yet 
they charge him also because he does not prevent them ! He suffers 
them to show what they really are, he lets them alone to do as they 
list and fulfil some out of their many wicked thoughts, and then 
when they have greedily committed evil, they say " He might have 
hindered it — why does he not prevent the evil ;" again, he does not let 
them fulfill all their wicked lusts, he limits and prevents them, and 
they say " There is constraint, we have not free will, therefore we are 
not responsible.^'' 

They professed to know God, to know his will, to follow it, and to 
be able and willing to work Righteousness, that is, to do good, and 
being confident in the wisdom of their own hearts and sure that they 
could find out God, God has tried them, and given them power and 
space to try what they could do, and they have tried what they could 
do, and they have laboured to show how they could ascend into 
heaven. If they had not been tried, they would have charged God fool- 
ishly : being confident and having a firm conviction that their wisdom 
and knowledge would lift them up to God, instead of carrying them 
further and further away from him. And if they had not had their 
way and their trial, how would God's elect have known assuredly 
that but for his everlasting Love, and eternal purpose of Grace and 
mercy towards them, yea, but for his election of Grace, but for his 
creation of them to be his own peculiar people, they with all their 
knowledge and understanding, with all their pious and endearing 
feelings, with all their inward light and fine resolutions, with all their 
earnest efforts and toils, with all their divinity and morality, with all 
their intellectual faculties, they never never never would have turned 
to him and heard his voice and believed ! no ! never ! but if left to 
try their own selves and their power, and their piety, they would only 
have sinned the more and more, and departed further and further 



150 THE PARABLE OP THE TALENTS. 

from God. Therefore as all things are for the elect's sake, the very 
wickedness which the wicked have been let alone to commit and had 
free will to exhibit, will tend to their salvation and make them 
acknowledge his wonderful mercy, his great power, his great good- 
ness and love to them, that he only is their Creator and he alone 
their God ; that there was and is no hope in themselves, and they 
will therefore praise and exalt him and magnify his holy name for 
ever and ever. 



NOTE TO CHAPTER VIII. V. 10th. 

Since the eager reception given by the Earth to this falsification 
of the word of God, it is incalculable to what extent the power of 
Satan has increased and spread among those people whom God had 
blessed above all other people with the revelation of his holy truth. 
Before this doctrine appeared, the power of God was manifest in 
them that believed the Gospel, and the law of God was reverenced 
and feared by all others. But, since this star fell burning like a 
lamp, since this root of bitterness sprung up, there has been gradually 
arising [creeping in, coming on step by step, slowly, without being 
noticed, unawares, as the Apostle Jude foretold) the most abominable 
doctrines, and wickedness, and a contempt of God's law, till at length 
it has now attained to a height unequaled in any former period of 
the world. No heathen people ever lived in such practical contempt 
of their false gods, of their maxims of virtue, of all law, as Christian 
people now do of the true God and of his righteous law. Never was 
the law of God so totally disregarded, so utterly slain, as it is at this 
day. Never was truth regarded with such trilling mind, and looked 
upon as a secondary thing, subordinate to earthly things, as it now 
is. Never was atheism, blasphemy and lying so unblushingly as- 
serted and accredited as it now is. Never was covetousness and 
unkindness from man to man so recognised and even admitted as a 
prudential virtue as it now is; (the existence of a hospital and poor 
house, or an ostentatious subscription, or the payment of a tax, being 
deemed sufficient excuse for covetousness, hard-heartedness and in- 
humanity; being the Corhan by paying of which men deem they are 
quit henceforth of obeying God's law.) Never was money so much 
worshipped, respected and greedily sought after ; never was the evil 
eye, the frightful eagerness and making haste to get rich so general 
and wide spread. And amid all this wickedness and moral deprava- 
tion, never was there witnessed on the earth before, so much 
hypocrisy and boasting on such a miserable foundation ; never such 
great swelling words of vanity, such religious pride, such glorying 
in the power of man and his virtue, as now is beheld among the 
earthly professors whose abominations have at length produced such 
a consummation of desolation so appalling, such a wide-spreading of 
moral anarchy and crime. 

The reasoning of the men of the Sea is, that since such are the 
servants of God pretending to know and obey Him, " we will not 
serve God," and others, " there is no God." Woe unto them ! Yes, 



THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 151 

since they who pretend they believe in God, and say they have his 
good spirit, are manifest to the world and confessed by their own 
mutual recriminations to be abominable and evil, griping, greedy of 
gain, harsh, bij^oted, backbiters, usurers, contentious, malicious, heady, 
highminded, unforgiving, unmerciful, — while their virtue and piety is 
beheld to be an odious severity of outward appearances and petty ab- 
stinences, and their religion an empty boasting and affectation of 
sentiment and feelings, — if these sects of wickedness (who believe 
each other to be Christians and yet mutually profess of one another 
that they are all departed from the truth) if these are servants of 
God and led by his good spirit, no marvel the Sea has come openly 
to the conclusion that there is no God. But " verily there is a God 
who judgeth in the earth'''' and they shall know it to their utter horror 
and dismay, who, pretending to serve him, yet following their own 
wisdom and theories and rejecting his word and truth, doing injustice, 
cause his Holy Name to be so bUsphemed through their wicked pre- 
tences. And also they shall find it out to their everlasting shame and 
confusion, who, being themselves evil men, judge Him by wicked men 
like unto themselves, and dare to blaspheme their all-wise and Al- 
mighty Creator, whose word alone daily sustains them and whose 
long suffering permits their wickedness. No man can be excused 
for following the delusions of the religious world, for no one who 
believes the word of God can believe that they are disciples of 
Christ: the Lord hath plainly declared how to knoAv his disciples, 
saying " By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, ify^ have 
love one to another.''^ They themselves when they have to choose be- 
tween Christ and the things of this life deny him for the sake of the 
latter, and declare of themselves that they are not Christians. 

" Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee thou wicked servant," saith the 
Lord. 

In the spring of the year 1832 he who writes these things left 
Philadelphia, going without scrip or purse to preach the Gospel of 
.Tesus Christ. Having preached at several places (no man receiving 
his testimony) he arrived at Bethlehem a city inhabited by a people 
called Moravians. When he made known to them that he would 
preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ in the market place, they 
laughed and told him that they had the gospel ; now it is certain if 
he had said he came to bring them a bag of gold they would not 
have refused it and said they had gold. Being first desirous to obtain 
a place to preach in, he was obliged to call upon their Minister, who 
received him at his door where they stood and talked together. 
When he had communicated his request and been refused permission 
to preach in their preaching house, as evening was now fast drawing 
on and he knew not where to lay his head he enquired of their 
preacher whether he knew who in that place was worthy, upon which 
he was briefly answered " No." Thinking it possible that the person 
to whom he spoke might not understand his enquiry he said " I 
mean can you tell me of any one in this place who is a Christian," 
and he was answered briefly again, " No." Much surprised, he said 



152 THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 

" Do you really say you know not one Christian in this place ?" and 
again he said " No." Perceiving that this created some surprise the 
pastor candidly explained, saying " he did not like to mention any 
one, as they would blame him for recommending me to them." Thus 
when it came to the point either to take a stranger in, or to deny 
that they were Christians, he did not hesitate in the choice, but 
repeatedly affirmed he did not know a single Christian in the whole 
town. Afterwards meeting with another person whose mortified and 
pious countenance engaged his attention, he asked him if he could 
tell him whether he knew any one who was a Christian in this town: 
this man immediately replied " No ;" and smiled at the same time at 
the singular question and answer. Now these people sing and talk a 
great deal about Christ's love ! They speak much of Jesus, calling 
him " dear Jesus," " the dear Redeemer," " lovely Jesus," and talk 
much of his precious love and such like things. God abhors such 
abominable flatteries and hypocrisy: he will not judge men according 
to their professions and declarations however fine they may be, but 
" by thy works thou shalt be judged," by what thou doest and not by 
what thou sayest. Professions and words and talk are all worth 
nothing, they are utterly despicable, be they ever so orthodox or 
ever so ecstatic. God searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins, and 
if a man says that he loves Him, he shall be tried whether he be of 
the truth, or whether he be a liar, whether he love God or whether 
he love the world and the things of the world. This matter was of 
God who would prove them. Now when they unhesitatingly declare 
that they are not Christians, can they complain if another says the 
same thing? The same thing happened to him in other places also. 
God delighteth not in fair speeches and smooth words and flattering 
lips, but he delighteth in mercy, even in mercy to the ungodly and 
to the sinner ; and also in them who are merciful to the stranger the 
forlorn and the unworthy, hoping for nothing again: with such sacri- 
fices God is well pleased. Let no one however imagine he can 
please God by any thing he can do ; " no man cometh unto the Father 
but by me ;" it is only by Jesus Christ that any one can approach 
unto God and offer sacrifices to him : " whatsoever is not of faith is 
sin;" all the deeds of men are sin. When the Lord Jesus Christ 
was on the earth suffering and in humiliation, the just for the unjust, 
he lived by faith, even He in whom was no sin ! God was in Him, 
and God did the works which he did, he believed ; thus he said, 
" The father which dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.^^ God was in 
Christ doing the works : and they who believe in his name, Jesus 
Christ is in them doing the works which please God : so that it is 
not they who do, but it is Christ who dwelleth in them: as he says 
" / in them and Thou in me,^'' and this is what this is what this little 
book preaches, " I in them," they only believing, doing nothing, 
ceasing from all their works, standing still, having rest, hallowing 
the Sabbath, even Him, and then the Power of God resteth on them ! 
Blessed are all they who put their trust in Him ! 

FINIS. 



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